Judge temporarily blocks Iowa’s abortion ban

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed a fetal heartbeat law into effect at 2:45 p.m. Friday at the Family Leadership Summit. She did so in front of the gathering of conservative Christian voters. The summit hosted half a dozen Republican presidential contenders with moderator Tucker Carlson. It was a high-profile bill-signing for Governor Reynolds.

The abortion ban in Iowa was more controversial than most other abortion bills. It is one that went into effect immediately upon Governor Reynolds signature. It bans almost all abortions after doctors hear cardiac activity. This is usually about six weeks into the pregnancy. On Monday, a Polk County judge temporarily blocked the fetal heartbeat law. With the temporary ban, abortion is again legal in Iowa up to the 20 week point in a pregnancy.

Reynolds has a Republican-controlled Legislature. It approved the pro-life measure in an all-day special session last week. The ACLU has already filed a lawsuit, along with Planned Parenthood North Central States and the Emma Goldman Clinic. As Reynolds signed the bill, Judge Joseph Seidlin held a hearing Friday and took the issue under advisement. Abortion providers scrambled last week to schedule as many appointments as possible before the governor signed the bill. Clinic were kept open later than usual.

Governor Reynolds put out a statement with her intention to fight for the legislation all the way to the state Supreme Court.

“The abortion industry’s attempt to thwart the will of Iowans and the voices of their elected representatives continues today,” Reynolds said in a statement. “But I will fight this all the way to the Iowa Supreme Court where we expect a decision that will finally provide justice for the unborn.”

House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst declared the temporary ban a win.

“It’s simple: politicians and judges have no place interfering in someone else’s decisions about when to start a family,” Konfrst said in a statement. “Reynolds and Republican lawmakers are so busy playing politics to appease the special interests that they’ve stopped listening to the strong majority of Iowans who do not support their abortion ban.”

There were massive demonstrations when the Legislature voted on the bill. Abortion providers and the ACLU were prepared to quickly file a lawsuit. They claim the law “violates Iowans’ inalienable rights and their rights to due process and equal protection under the Iowa Constitution.”

Several states are involved in lawsuits over abortion laws. This was predicted when the Supreme Court ruled on the Dobbs case. Abortion is no longer a federal issue, but a state issue, as it was before Roe v Wade went into effect in 1973.

Polk County District Judge Joseph Seidlin said in his ruling he would grant the request for a temporary injunction. He noted “there are good, honorable and intelligent people — morally, politically and legally — on both sides of this upsetting societal and constitutional dilemma.” Abortion remains a hot button issue and both sides of the argument remain set in their opinions about it. The Supreme Court’s ruling didn’t settle the issue, it only brought out renewed arguments between pro-life and pro-abortion advocates.

The Iowa Board of Medicine will continue writing administrative rules to govern the law’s implementation.

“Should the injunction entered today ultimately be dissolved, itwould only benefit all involved, patients and providers alike, to have rules in place to administer the law,” Seidlin wrote.

Iowa has a 24-hour waiting period for abortions, so the earliest appointment will be Wednesday, now that abortion clinics are up and running again.

Reynolds has fought for a long time to get this abortion ban signed into law. It begin in 2018.

Reynolds signed a nearly identical law in 2018 that was permanently blocked by the courts.

The governor tried unsuccessfully to revive it after state and federal court decisions last year rolled back protections for abortion, but the Iowa Supreme Court deadlocked 3-3 on the case in June, leaving the law blocked.

Following the court defeat, Reynolds quickly called the special session and urged lawmakers to act again to restrict abortion.

There is no doubt she will continue to fight for as long as necessary now. The Iowa bill is similar to that of the bill Governor DeSantis signed into law in Florida. The majority of Americans, though, prefer abortion bans at 14-15 weeks. At the 6-week point in a pregnancy, many women don’t even realize they are pregnant.

For now, it’s abortion as usual in Iowa.

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