Iowa supreme court upholds ban on abortion at six weeks of pregnancy
Iowa is set to become the latest state to tightly restrict accessto abortion after the state's supreme court upheld a law banning abortions at six weeks of pregnancy.
That will replace the current ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. It sets a short timeline for getting the procedure, with many women not aware of their pregnancy for the first several weeks.
It's unclear when the law will take effect, with some saying it won't be for at least three weeksas other court procedures still play out.
Abortions after six weeks of pregnancy will be allowed in cases of rape if the assault is reported to law enforcement within 45 days, in cases of incest reported within 140 days, and if the pregnancy endangers the life of the pregnant person. It allows abortion in the case of life-threatening fetal abnormalities.
In the two years since the U.S. Supreme Court ended a federal right to abortion in the Dobbs case, state lawmakers around the country have been making a new patchwork of reproductive rights. In many states, that's meant setting new restrictions on abortion - though the number of abortions being carried out has increased.
The law had been in effect for a few days after Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds signed it last year but was blocked by a lower court in a lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood of the Heartland.
Today the court found that there is a "rational basis" to write a law banning abortion based on the detection of a fetal heartbeat, stating, "We conclude that the fetal heartbeat statute is rationally related to the state’s legitimate interest in protecting unborn life."
In a dissenting opinion, Chief Justice Susan Christensen wrote, "The majority’s rigid approach relies heavily on the male-dominated history and traditions of the 1800s, all the while ignoring how far women’s rights have come since the Civil War era."
The ruling will put Iowa among 18 states that either ban nearly all abortion or ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. That includes 14 with near total bans and now four with six-week bans, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that backs abortion rights.
The Midwest is still a mixed picture for abortion rights. Neighboring Iowa are Minnesota, Wisconsin, Kansas and Illinois that still allow access to abortion beyond 20 weeks. But Missouri and the Dakotas have near-total bans and Nebraska has a 12-week ban.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Transcript
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Two years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned federal abortion rights, another state now is imposing strict new restrictions on abortion. Iowa's state Supreme Court upheld a ban today on abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy. The state has currently allowed abortions up to 20 weeks. We're joined now by Natalie Krebs from Iowa Public Radio in Des Moines. And Natalie, if you could just start by telling us - what was the question facing the court, and how did it rule?
NATALIE KREBS, BYLINE: So the court was determining whether a law passed by Iowa legislators last year that bans abortion when what it calls fetal cardiac activity is detected can go into effect. This bans abortion as early as six weeks of pregnancy. But that law was blocked in courts, and today's Supreme Court ruling clears the way for it to take effect. So the majority ruled that because a previous Supreme Court decision determined there's no fundamental right to abortion in Iowa, this means, legally speaking, the heartbeat law stands as what the majority calls the state's legitimate interest in protecting unborn life. So legal experts say it will take at least 21 days for the lower court to put this new law into effect.
SUMMERS: Right, right. And Natalie, tell us, what kind of reaction have you been hearing there in Iowa?
KREBS: Right. So as you might expect, Iowa Republicans and antiabortion organizations applauded the decision. Iowa Republicans have been trying to pass this particular abortion ban for nearly six years at this point. So here's Maggie DeWitte. She's the executive director of Pulse Life Advocates. It's an antiabortion organization. She's speaking outside of the Iowa Supreme Court this morning.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MAGGIE DEWITTE: We absolutely have the public's support. Iowa is a pro-life state, and that is spoken loud and clear by our Republican control - not just a majority, but a supermajority in both the Senate and the House, and a wonderful, wonderful pro-life governor.
KREBS: So actually, though, polling by the Des Moines Register suggests the majority of Iowans say they do support abortion to be legal in all or most cases. Abortion rights supporters say this is a major setback for Iowa women, and it will eliminate the vast majority of abortions currently performed in the state. Chief Justice Susan Christensen - she wrote this strongly worded dissenting opinion, saying the majority opinion, quote, "relies heavily on the male-dominated history and traditions of the 1800s, all while ignoring how far women's rights have come since the Civil War era."
SUMMERS: OK. If you can, just help us put this in a little bit of context. Where is Iowa compared to other states when it comes to abortion access?
KREBS: So Iowa goes from being on the less restrictive end of abortion - allowing abortion up to 20 weeks - to one of the most restrictive. Fourteen states have near-total bans, and three have bans at around six weeks. That's according to the Guttmacher Institute. That's a research group that backs abortion rights. Iowa now joins them. Keep in mind that many people don't know they're pregnant for a few weeks. This means many will have to go over the border to states like Illinois and Minnesota that have expanded abortion rights. Other nearby states to Iowa, like Missouri or the Dakotas, have near-total bans on abortion.
SUMMERS: That is Natalie Krebs of Iowa Public Radio. Natalie, thank you so much.
KREBS: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SZA SONG, "SHIRT") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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