Iowa Supreme Court Upholds ‘Fetal Heartbeat’ Law Outlawing Abortions at Six Weeks

Iowa’s Supreme Court on Friday upheld a contentious state law that bans most abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, joining more than a dozen states that have restricted abortion to six weeks or earlier.In a heated 4-3 decision, the court instructed a district court to dissolve a temporary block on the law and remanded the case for further proceedings, meaning abortions after six weeks will soon be outlawed in the state.The court’s decision comes as abortion has been a major topic of the presidential election, including in the debate on Thursday, and as the Supreme Court has weighed disputes on emergency abortions and abortion drugs this year. A slew of more than ten states including Colorado, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Florida are also approving or in the process of approving abortion-related ballot measures ahead of November.At issue in Iowa’s case, Planned Parenthood v. Reynolds, is a 2023 Iowa state law banning most abortions — with exceptions for rape, incest, and medical emergencies — once a heartbeat is detected, which occurs around six weeks into the pregnancy. As the court weighed the law, abortion was allowed in Iowa for up to 20 weeks. Governor Reynolds was appealing a ruling from a lower court blocking the 2023 heartbeat law after Planned Parenthood challenged it. The state urged the court that the “appropriate standard to review laws that protect unborn human life is rational basis,” arguing that the state has a “vital interest in protecting unborn life.” Planned Parenthood, in its brief, argued the “undue burden” standard is more fitting. Iowa’s law “provides an extremely narrow window” for women to confirm pregnancies, decide on an abortion, find a clinic, secure an appointment, and arrange for transportation or childcare, the brief notes. “There can be no doubt, therefore, that it imposes an undue burden.”Agreeing with the state that the rational basis was appropriate, the court’s majority noted “we conclude that the fetal heartbeat statute is rationally related to the state’s legitimate interest in protecting unborn life.” It emphasized that it has “previously held that abortion is not a fundamental right under the Iowa Constitution.”After the ruling, Ms. Reynolds applauded the decision and said that the state is committed to helping women through pregnancy, encouraging strong fatherhood, and promoting adoption and in vitro fertilization. “There is no right more sacred than life, and nothing more worthy of our strongest defense than the innocent unborn,” she said. In a dissent, the state court’s chief justice, Susan Christensen, wrote that the state’s Constitution should be interpreted through a “modern lens that recognizes how our lives have changed with the passage of time.”“Today, our court’s majority strips Iowa women of their bodily autonomy by holding that there is no fundamental right to terminate a pregnancy under our state constitution,” she 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 court’s decision is “dangerous and reprehensible,” the president of Planned Parenthood North Central States, Ruth Richardson, said in a statement provided to the Sun.“Every person deserves to have the full range of sexual and reproductive health care they need, including abortion, no matter their ZIP code,” she said.

Iowa Supreme Court Upholds ‘Fetal Heartbeat’ Law Outlawing Abortions at Six Weeks

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