Iowa six-week abortion ban to take effect Monday, judge orders
Jul 23, 2024 | 2:15 pm ET
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Hundreds of Iowans rallied for and against abortion restrictions on July 11, 2023 in the Capitol rotunda. (Photo by Kathie Obradovich/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
The Iowa law banning most abortions as early as six weeks of pregnancy will take effect Monday, July 29, an Iowa district judge ruled Tuesday.
District Judge Jeffrey Farrell said in an order that the injunction currently blocking the law from enforcement will be lifted at 8 a.m. Monday. The order comes a day after the Iowa Supreme Court denied Planned Parenthood of the Heartland’s petition for a rehearing of its case challenging the law, upholding the 4-3 June decision that called for the injunction to be lifted, setting a lower legal standard for judging the constitutionality of abortion laws in Iowa.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds praised the order. Tuesday, saying “today is a victory for life.”
“As the fetal heartbeat law finally takes effect, our work will continue to strengthen a culture of life in Iowa,” Reynolds said in a statement. “I remain deeply committed to supporting women in planning for motherhood, promoting the importance of fatherhood, elevating adoption, and protecting in vitro fertilization (IVF). Families are the foundation of society, and policies that encourage strong families will make our state and country strong for generations to come.”
The 2023 Iowa law bans abortions, with some exceptions, after cardiac activity can be detected in an embryo. Cardiac activity can be detected as early as six weeks of gestation, reproductive health care advocates and providers say. The law allows for some exceptions for rape and incest when reported in specified time frames, and when an abortion is needed to save the life of the mother.
Ruth Richardson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States said earlier in July the organization has been preparing for several months for the law to go into effect. Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers in Iowa will continue to provide abortion services legally until embryonic cardiac activity can be detected. Beyond that cutoff, navigators within the organization will work with patients to help them seek services outside Iowa, Richardson said.
Planned Parenthood has increased abortion care capabilities at their health centers in surrounding states, including expanded facilities in Omaha, Nebraska and Mankato, Minnesota.
As providers prepare for implementation of the law, Iowa Democrats say the measure proves the need for Iowans to elect more Democrats in the November general election. Iowa House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst said in a statement Tuesday that “politicians and judges have no place interfering in someone else’s decisions about when to start a family.”
Konfrst said “we know Iowans may be frustrated and overwhelmed by politics right now, but we must continue to keep fighting every single day to save our reproductive freedom in Iowa. The majority of Iowans believe in reproductive freedom, and they must hold their elected officials accountable at the polls this November.”
Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart said in an interview with the Iowa Capital Dispatch that the abortion law is “absolutely one of our biggest priorities to discuss” from now through the November election.
“As many people have said, as a result of this, women will die here in the state of Iowa, as we’ve seen these repercussions in other states across the nation,” Hart said. “So this is definitely something that we’ll be talking about a lot. It’s something that is really important to Iowans, and therefore, we’re going to work really hard to get Democrats elected so that we get more common-sense legislation coming out of this state.”
Des Moines, IA