News A fetus isn’t a ‘person’ just because state’s lawyer says so. Rhetoric isn’t fact. December 22, 2018Rekha Basu, Des Moines RegisterComments Off on A fetus isn’t a ‘person’ just because state’s lawyer says so. Rhetoric isn’t fact. An attorney defending Iowa's fetal heartbeat law spent most of his time in court making the unproven assertion that a fetus is a person.