DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s strict abortion law went into effect Monday, banning most abortions beginning at about six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant.
Iowa Republican politicians have been pushing for this law for years, and their success increased after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. The Iowa Supreme Court also ruled the same year that there was no constitutional right to abortion in the state.
“There is no right more sacred than life,” Republican Governor Kim Reynolds said in June. “I am glad the Iowa Supreme Court has affirmed the will of the people of Iowa.”
Abortion is now banned nationwide in four states after the sixth week of pregnancy, and in 14 states it is virtually completely banned at all stages of pregnancy.
The Iowa law and other restrictions across the country will be at the center of the 2024 election, with Republicans celebrating their victories while Democrats criticize them as an attack on women’s rights. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is a Democratic presidential nominee, said reproductive rights are at stake in November.
The Harris team released a video on Monday to raise awareness of the issue as the law now takes effect in Iowa.
“We have to vote,” she said. “When I am president of the United States, I will enshrine the protection of reproductive freedom in law.”
Iowa’s abortion providers are fighting the recent law but are preparing for it anyway by strengthening abortion access in neighboring states and learning from countries where bans went into effect more quickly.
They have said they will continue to operate in Iowa in accordance with the recent law, but Sarah Traxler, chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood North Central States, called it a (*6*) moment in the state’s history.
Iowa’s law passed the Republican-controlled legislature in a special session last year, but the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, Planned Parenthood North Central States and the Emma Goldman Clinic immediately filed suit. The law was in effect for just a few days before a district judge temporarily blocked it. Governor Kim Reynolds appealed the decision to the state Supreme Court.
The Iowa Supreme Court’s 4-3 ruling in June affirmed that there is no constitutional right to abortion in the state and ordered the ban to be lifted. A district judge said last week the ban would be lifted Monday morning.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, called it a “historic day for Iowa.”
The law prohibits abortions once cardiac activity can be detected, which is around six weeks. There are narrow exceptions in cases of rape, incest, fetal abnormalities, or when the mother’s life is in danger. Previously, abortion was legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks of pregnancy.
The state medical board set standards for compliance with the law earlier this year, but the rules do not spell out what disciplinary action would be taken or how the board would proceed if noncompliance occurs.
Three abortion clinics in two Iowa cities offer on-site abortions and will continue to do so before cardiac activity is detected, say Planned Parenthood officials and Emma Goldman.
A law based on cardiac activity would be “difficult,” said Planned Parenthood’s Traxler. Since six weeks is an approximate time frame, “we don’t necessarily plan to terminate delivery at a certain gestational age,” she said.
For more than a year, the regional Planned Parenthood organization in Iowa and elsewhere has been investing in preparing for the restrictions. As in other regions, it has dedicated staff working by phone to facilitate people find appointments, connect with other providers, arrange travel plans or provide financial assistance.
The company is also remodeling its center in Omaha, Nebraska, just across the state line, and recently began offering medication abortions in Mankato, Minnesota, about an hour’s drive from Iowa.
But providers fear the drastic changes in access will exacerbate health inequities for women of color and Iowans from low-income households.
Since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the status of abortion has been in constant flux across the country: laws taking immediate effect, states passing recent restrictions or expanding access, and court cases putting them on hold.
In states with restrictions, the main options for obtaining an abortion are obtaining the pill via telemedicine, underground networks, or traveling, which dramatically increases demand in states with better access.
