The 4-3 ruling overturned a lower court’s temporary block on the law and sent the case back to continue, allowing the ban to take effect.
Iowa’s law is an example of a “heartbeat statute,” which bans abortions after fetal cardiac activity can be detected — usually around six weeks, which is before many women know they are pregnant.
The lawsuit was filed by Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, the Emma Goldman Clinic, and the ACLU of Iowa. They argued that the abortion ban was not constitutional under Iowa law. The lower court’s injunction kept abortion legal up to 22 weeks of pregnancy.
“We conclude that the fetal heartbeat statute is rationally related to the state’s legitimate interest in protecting unborn life,” the majority wrote.
The ruling stated that “neither text nor history establishes abortion as a fundamental right under the Iowa Constitution.”
The ruling means many women will likely have to travel to nearby states like Illinois or Minnesota if they need an abortion beyond the six-week cutoff.
In a statement after the ruling, Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) said she was “glad that the Iowa Supreme Court has upheld the will of the people of Iowa.”
“There is no right more sacred than life, and nothing more worthy of our strongest defense than the innocent unborn,” Reynolds said.
President Biden in a statement called the Iowa restrictions “extreme and dangerous.” Biden and Democrats have sought to make abortion a central campaign issue this year, though the president muddled his responses on abortion questions during Thursday’s debate.
