On Monday, an Iowa judge temporarily blocked a new six-week abortion ban from going into effect.
Polk County District Judge Joseph Seidlin’s order means the law, which Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds signed Friday, will remain on hold while the legal challenge plays out in the court system.
“The court will grant the temporary injunction sought here. In doing so, it recognizes that there are good, honorable, and intelligent people, morally, politically, and legally, on both sides of this upsetting social and constitutional dilemma. The patience and perseverance are also hallmarks. Traits on both sides, traits that continue to command respect,” Seidlin wrote.
“The court believes it must follow the current precedent of the Iowa Supreme Court and preserve the status quo before as this litigation moves forward,” he added.
Reynolds signed the ban at a high-profile political rally organized by an evangelical Christian group. He told the audience, including several Republican presidential candidates, that he represented “a firm commitment to the smallest and most vulnerable among us.”
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds at a ceremony to sign a bill to ban most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy at the Family Leadership Summit in Des Moines on Friday.Scott Olson/Getty Images
“The abortion industry’s attempt to thwart the will of Iowans and the voices of their elected representatives continues today, but I will fight all the way to the Iowa Supreme Court, where we hope for a decision that will finally provide justice for the unborn.” , Reynolds. he said in a statement on Monday in response to the demand.
The law went into effect when Reynolds signed the bill, but was frozen by the temporary measure Monday afternoon. With the law blocked for now, abortion restrictions in the state will revert to the previous law, which allowed abortion up to the 20th week of pregnancy.
The Republican-controlled state legislature passed the new law last week during a marathon 15-hour special session that Reynolds had called for the sole purpose of enacting what she called “pro-life legislation.”
The new law it includes exceptions for the woman’s life, miscarriages, and fetal abnormalities deemed “incompatible with life” by doctors, as well as for pregnancies resulting from rape and incest. For these exceptions to apply, a violation must have been reported to law enforcement or a “public or private health agency,” which includes a family physician, within 45 days, and Incest must have been reported to any of these officials or entities within 140 days.
Reproductive rights advocates have said a six-week ban is tantamount to a total ban because many women don’t even know they’re pregnant that early.
Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa and the Emma Goldman Clinic, a women’s health center in Iowa City, sued to block the law from taking effect Wednesday, less than 12 hours after the Legislature approved it, arguing it violates the Iowa Constitution.
Reproductive rights groups had said that if the law went into effect immediately, it would send abortion clinics and patients into the state. Planned Parenthood officials said clinics across the state remained open Thursday until 10 p.m. offering care in anticipation of Friday’s signing.
In their challenge, they had asked Seidlin to block the law from taking effect.
In a hearing Friday that ran concurrently with Reynolds’ signing ceremony, Seidlin said his request “requires my strong and long attention” and that he “couldn’t think of anything that could be more insulting” than quickly issue a decision on the challenge.
Reproductive rights groups welcomed Monday’s ruling.
“Today’s ruling means patients across Iowa will be able to access abortion care and maintain control over their bodies and futures,” said Ruth Richardson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States. , in a statement. He added that the group “will.” continue to oppose this blatant and unconstitutional ban as it moves through the courts.”
The new law came just weeks after the state Supreme Court issued a split decision allowing an earlier six-week abortion ban, which was enacted in 2018, to remain permanently blocked.
Although the new one is almost identical to the six-week ban that remains blocked, the outcome of the challenge this time could be different, because there will be a full state Supreme Court that will issue a decision.
The Rev. Michael Shover of Christ the Redeemer Church in Pella, left, argues with Ryan Maher of Des Moines as anti-abortion and abortion rights protesters face off in the Capitol rotunda in Iowa on July 11.Zach Boyden-Holmes / The Register / USA Today Network
The Supreme Court of the State split opinion It was a close decision last month based largely on procedural grounds, meaning it remains possible, if not likely, that a full seven-member court could find a legal consensus on a new ban.
One of the court’s seven judges, Dana Oxley, a Reynolds appointee, recused herself from challenging the 2018 law because her former law firm represented an abortion clinic that was a plaintiff in the original case.
Last month’s split decision included three justices who suggested they might support a legal rule, known as a “rational basis,” that would allow a six-week abortion limit to be maintained in the future.
If Oxley were to be part of the next decision, it would most likely be a clear, legally binding majority on a six-week ban.
On the other hand, in their challenge to the latest law filed last week, reproductive rights groups argued that judges are still applying a higher standard — called the “undue burden” standard.
Although that rule was overturned nationally by the US Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruling last year, which overturned Roe v. Wade, is still in force in Iowa.
