Iowa's House of Representatives won't consider a bill that would ban its citizens from suing pesticide companies over any health complications.
Senate Bill 394 would have prohibited "Failure to Warn" lawsuits, claiming that pesticide companies didn't properly warn the public of their product's health risks, under the premise that Environmental Protection Agency approval of the products was enough to satisfy all legal requirements.
As Inside Climate News reported, protesters referred to this bill as the "cancer gag act." It narrowly passed the state Senate, 29-24, but House Speaker Pat Grassley said that "there's not support within the caucus for that bill."
The legislation was backed by the Modern Ag Alliance, an organization founded by Bayer, the company whose Monsanto branch makes the popular "weed killer" Roundup. Glyphosate, the active ingredient in many Roundup products and other commercial herbicides, has been linked to numerous health hazards, including cancer and birth complications.
More than 177,000 lawsuits have been filed against Bayer for Roundup-related issues, and the company has paid billions of dollars to fight and settle the suits. In March, a Georgia jury ruled that Bayer owed $2 billion in damages to a man who claimed Roundup caused his cancer.
The company has called these lawsuits an "existential" threat to its financial stability and is pushing for state and federal laws that would make such lawsuits much more difficult, if not impossible.
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Numerous studies have also shown that Roundup and other herbicides with glyphosate cause major environmental damage and contribute to a lack of biodiversity. Using natural solutions for weeds, however, can get the same results in your yard, without the health and environmental risks.
The Modern Ag Alliance claims that Iowa farmers support SB 394 and that these lawsuits could put an end to the pesticides and herbicides commonly used in agriculture. But Tommy Hexter, policy director for the Iowa Farmers Union, told Inside Climate News that isn't the case.
"I haven't talked to a single citizen, farmer, employees for Bayer, anybody that thinks that this bill makes sense," he said. "No one is actually concerned that Roundup is going to stop being produced if they keep getting sued."
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