Iowa Governor signs 'freedom-crushing' Ag-Gag bill into law
Action Alert from All-Creatures.org

FROM LCA Last Chance for Animals
March 2019

ACTION

On Thursday, March 14, 2019, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed SF 519 (also known as Ag-Gag 2.0) into law effective immediately, making "agricultural production facility trespass" a crime and allowing for the prosecution of those that use deception or conspire with others in order to gain access to agricultural facilities "with the intent to cause physical or economic harm or other injury to the agricultural production facility's operations, agricultural animals, crop, owner, personnel, equipment, building, premises, business interest, or customer."

• Stay informed about current ag-gag laws — see where your state stands - End Ag Gag Laws!
• Contact your state legislators:
  - Kansas currently has ag-gag litigation pending. If you live in this state, contact your local legislators and urge them to not support the bill.
  - If you live in a state where an ag-gag law currently exists, such as Iowa, contact your state legislators and demand a repeal.

INFORMATION

Under the new law, violators who commit "agricultural production facility trespass" would be charged with a "serious misdemeanor for a first offense and an aggravated misdemeanor for a second or subsequent offense."

Ag-gag — a term that describes state-level legislation aimed at punishing whistleblowers on factory farms throughout the United States — laws are the agricultural industry's attempt at hiding the abuses and horrific treatment of animals on factory farms. Undercover investigations are crucial in exposing animal cruelty within the agricultural industry and have led to criminal convictions, lawsuits, and major recalls. They have also exposed consumers to the hidden practices of agribusiness.

This is not the first time Iowa has tried to silence whistleblowers — on March 2, 2012, Iowa signed ag-gag bill HF 589 into law, prohibiting undercover investigators from obtaining employment at agricultural facilities under false pretenses. Seven years later, on January 9, 2019, the bill was struck down in federal court for violating the First Amendment.

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Thank you for everything you do for animals!

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