UPDATE 7/17/23: Polk County, Iowa Judge Joseph Seidlin placed a block on the state’s new heartbeat law on Monday while the court considers the abortion providers’ lawsuit. The ruling temporarily reinstates abortion in the state up to 20 weeks of pregnancy.
According to the Associated Press, Seidlin’s ruling “hinges on the ‘undue burden’ test, which is an intermediate level of scrutiny that requires laws do not create a significant obstacle to abortion.” However, he also instructed the Iowa Board of Medicine to proceed with developing administrative rules for implementing the law.
“Should the injunction entered today ultimately be dissolved, it would only benefit all involved, patients and providers alike, to have rules in place to administer the law,” he wrote.
Governor Kim Reynolds, who signed the new legislation Friday, vowed to continue fighting for the preborn.
“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.”
7/15/23: Abortion businesses wasted no time in filing a lawsuit against Iowa’s new heartbeat law, which will protect preborn lives after six weeks. Planned Parenthood North Central States, the Emma Goldman Clinic, and the ACLU of Iowa filed the suit Wednesday morning, just hours after lawmakers passed the bill.
“By banning the vast majority of abortions in Iowa, the Act unlawfully violates the rights of Petitioners, their medical providers, and other staff, and their patients under the Iowa Constitution and would severely jeopardize their health, safety, and welfare,” the lawsuit states.
KCRG reports that in their suit, the plaintiffs argue that “the law creates a hardship for someone seeking an abortion that is not outweighed by the interests of the government.” They say that the law places an undue burden on women who do not know they are pregnant before the heartbeat is detected, and who would be forced to travel out of state for an abortion, defining it as “medical care.”
Abortion is the direct and intentional killing of a human life through starvation, suction, dismemberment, or poison. While true health care aims to heal or comfort the patient, abortion destroys the life of the innocent child. It is not medical care.
Governor Kim Reynolds has said she will sign the bill Friday. When she does so, the law restricting abortion will immediately take effect. Upon filing the lawsuit, the abortion industry also asked the courts to block the law while the case is being considered.
“We are seeking to block the ban because we know that every day this law is in effect, Iowans will face life-threatening barriers to getting desperately needed medical care — just as we have seen in other states with similar bans,” Rita Bettis Austen, legal director for the ACLU of Iowa, said in a statement.
According to the Associated Press, court filings reveal that Iowa Planned Parenthood and the Emma Goldman Clinic had over 200 appointments scheduled for abortion between this week and next week, the majority of which were for patients beyond the six-week mark. If the law is allowed to take effect, it could potentially save many of these lives immediately.
