The Iowa Supreme Court ruled on Friday (28) to uphold a law banning most abortions in the state after six weeks of pregnancy.
The decision will drastically restrict abortions in Iowa, where women have been able to have the procedure up to 22 weeks.
The measure would prohibit doctors from performing most abortions after early cardiac activity can be detected in a fetus or embryo, usually as early as six weeks into pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant. Exceptions will also be made for pregnancies resulting from rapes reported within 45 days and incest reported within 140 days.
The case is part of a broader political fallout surrounding the issue of abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down federal abortion rights in June 2022. The high court’s decision allowed abortion rights to be determined by state governments.
Several bans were quickly met with challenges from abortion rights groups, and many are still under trial, including in Utah, Ohio and Wyoming. On Thursday (27), the Supreme Court blocked enforcement of Idaho’s strict abortion law.
Republican Governor of Iowa, Kim Reynolds, celebrated the decision this Friday (28), saying he is happy that the state’s highest court “upholds the will of the people”.
“As the Heartbeat Bill finally becomes law, we are deeply committed to supporting women in planning for parenthood and promoting fatherhood and its importance in raising children,” Reynolds said in a statement.
The American politician has vowed to protect in vitro fertilization, which has become another flashpoint in the post-Roe abortion landscape.
Iowa’s ban was passed in July 2023, during a special legislative session called exclusively to pass abortion restrictions, after the state Supreme Court refused to lift a block on a similar 2018 bill.
The 2023 ban immediately faced challenges from local organizations Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union, along with other reproductive rights advocates. A state district court temporarily blocked the measure three days after it took effect.
The state’s attorneys argued that Iowa’s constitution “does not recognize a fundamental right to abortion,” and as a result, the abortion ban does not “imply a fundamental right.” Thus, they argued, the court should only determine whether the legislation has a “rational basis.”
Reproductive rights advocates said a law restricting abortions from six weeks into pregnancy will prevent most Iowans from accessing abortions, as many people don’t know they are pregnant at that point.
Even if some women determine they are pregnant before six weeks, they will face “substantial logistical and financial obstacles to obtaining an abortion in Iowa before the time runs out,” attorneys for Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union argued.
With the ruling, Iowa joins nearly two dozen states that have banned or limited access to abortion. Florida, Georgia and South Carolina have similar six-week restrictions in place.
This story has been updated with additional details.
Shania Shelton from CNN contributed to this report.
Source: CNN Brasil
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