Barring any delays over legal issues, Iowa is poised to enact a ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, before most women know they are pregnant.
The ban has exceptions for cases where the life or health of the mother is in danger and for survivors of rape and incest, miscarriages, and certain fetal diagnoses.
Abortion providers challenged the ban in state court Wednesday on the basis that it violates Iowans’ constitutional rights to abortion and substantive due process, as well as the state constitution’s inalienable rights clause, which they argue guarantees those rights to women specifically and grants them equal protection under the law. They are asking the court to temporarily prevent the law from going into effect on Friday, when Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds has indicated that she intends to sign it.
“If this abortion ban goes into effect, it will place an unacceptable burden on patients’ ability to access essential abortion care, especially those who already face systemic inequities. Hundreds of Iowans will be impacted in mere weeks,” Ruth Richardson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States, said in a statement.
The law is practically identical to one passed in 2018 that was permanently blocked by a state court in a decision upheld by the Iowa Supreme Court last month. In response, Reynolds called a special session Tuesday with the singular purpose of passing the new law, which she maintains is reflective of Iowans’ values.
“Iowans have elected representatives willing to stand up for the rights of the unborn and, in doing so, they have voted strongly in support of pro-life principles and against the arbitrary destruction of innocent, defenseless lives,” Reynolds said in a statement announcing the special session.
However, polling suggests that Iowans feel differently. A Des Moines Register-Mediacom Iowa poll conducted earlier this year found that 61 percent of Iowa adults supported legal abortion in all or…
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