Des Moines, IA — On Monday, over 150 Iowans rallied at the State Capitol rotunda in opposition to the Cancer Gag Act (SSB 1051), which would shield pesticide manufacturers from lawsuits related to the health impacts of their products. Speakers held a vigil for cancer victims, and called on legislators to oppose the dangerous bill, which is backed by pesticide giant Bayer.

Photos will be available here.

Food & Water Watch Iowa Organizer Michaelyn Mankel said:

“Big Ag is making us sick — and Iowans know it. Now, the giants that polluted our communities for profit want to silence their victims. No issue is more important right now than restoring our public health and clean water. The Iowa legislature must reject Bayer’s cruel Cancer Gag Act out of hand.”

Bayer’s push to limit liability comes as the corporation has spent over $11 billion settling more than 100,000 cancer lawsuits related to their Roundup product, whose active ingredient glyphosate is under investigation as a possible carcinogen. Roundup is widely used in Iowa: In any given year, more than half the state is covered in the pesticide.

“Bayer wants immunity because it’s been sued by thousands of individuals who’ve gotten sick. Cancer is a main focus of these lawsuits, and Roundup is a main cause of concern,” said Barb Kalbach, a fourth generation family farmer and CCI Action member. “A bill like SSB 1051 sets a dangerous precedent for a state that has the second highest rates of cancer in the nation. Who is the next corporation that is going to come asking for immunity?”

Iowa is the only state in the country with rising cancer rates — the Iowa Cancer Registry predicted 21,000 new, invasive cancer diagnoses last year, and 6,100 cancer-related deaths. Speakers demanded legislators take action on the crisis by cracking down on industrial agriculture polluters. Groups urged passage of the Clean Water for Iowa Act, to reign in all but unregulated factory farm pollution, a key source of cancer-linked nitrates in drinking water.