Iowa lawmakers gathered at the state Capitol on Tuesday for a special session on a six-week abortion ban, even though a stalemate in the state Supreme Court less than a year ago months rendered the ban unenforceable.
Gov. Kim Reynolds (right) called the session last week, saying the 3-3 vote in the state’s highest court last month “disregards the will of voters and lawmakers across the country Iowa who will not rest until their unborn children are protected by law.”
The “sole purpose” of Tuesday’s special session, Reynolds said in a statement, is to ban abortion once heart activity can be detected in the fetus, which usually occurs around six weeks to term. , before many patients even know it. are pregnant.
Iowa currently allows abortion up to 20 weeks of pregnancy. In 2018, Reynolds signed a six-week abortion ban, but it was stalled during years of litigation.
Amid this legal battle, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, allowing states to completely ban abortion for the first time in nearly half a century. But the Iowa Supreme Court was split on what the state constitution says about it, with three justices arguing last month that it prohibits excessive burden on the proceedings.
The proposed restrictions that are the subject of Tuesday’s special session are nearly identical to those blocked by the Iowa Supreme Court. Republicans have a majority of more than 60% in both houses of the Iowa legislature, making passage of the measure likely. The law would go into effect as soon as Reynolds signed it.
Throughout the morning and into the early afternoon, Iowa lawmakers heard public comment as a large crowd of abortion rights activists demonstrated outside the chamber.
McKenzie Sundall Gaspar, an Iowa medical student who plans to practice as an OB-GYN, told lawmakers that strict abortion bans could encourage doctors to leave the state and practice elsewhere.
“Iowa has the fewest OB-GYNs per capita in the entire country,” she said. “Iowa desperately needs future doctors like me and my classmates to stay in the state to practice. If this legislation passes, you are telling us that this is a state that will stand between us and our patients.
Planned Parenthood also spoke out against the bill, saying in a statement that the legislation “has been called the ‘Heartbeat Bill,’ but make no mistake: The use of the term ‘heartbeat’ is factually and medically inaccurate. and designed to stigmatize abortion.”
“Every person’s situation is unique,” the group continued, “and the truth is that there is no scientific or medical consensus on when life begins.”
More than a dozen states enacted near-total abortion bans in the wake of Roe’s downfall, including Missouri, South Dakota and Wisconsin, all of which border Iowa. The bans have created a care crisis for millions of Americans, even in states that don’t have such laws in place.
Iowa lawmakers are expected to vote on the legislation Tuesday afternoon.