(28 Jun 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Des Moines, Iowa – 28 June 2024
1. Close up of Iowa State Capitol building
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Maggie DeWitte, Executive Director, Pulse Life Advocates:
“This is a monumental win for Iowa women, for Iowa families, for babies. A baby is a unique and distinct person from its mother, and it deserves protection under our law. And that’s exactly what this heartbeat ruling will do. Abortion hurts women and it’s never necessary. And so, this is a step forward for Iowa women and for babies in our state.”
3. Iowa Supreme Court building
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Maggie DeWitte, Executive Director, Pulse Life Advocates:
“We absolutely have the public support. Iowa is a pro-life state, and that is spoken loud and clear by our Republican control, not just a majority, but a supermajority in both the Senate and the House and a wonderful, wonderful pro-life governor. The people of Iowa have spoken clearly on that. Pro-Life is important, and protecting life is their number one issue.”
5. Exterior view of Iowa State Capitol
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Emily Boevers, Obstetrician gynecologist:
“We know that there are many ways to decrease the number of abortions happening, but abortion bans do not do that. They put the lives of women and the wellness of families in general. I’m deeply disappointed that today Iowa will become one of the most restrictive states in the nation with a six-week abortion ban.”
7. View of downtown Des Moines
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Emily Boevers, Obstetrician gynecologist
“When I was taking care of women in pregnancy, before pregnancy and after pregnancy, I need to be prepared to offer full spectrum medical care. There are situations where abortion is necessary to save the life of a mother. There are situations where abortion is the best choice for a woman, for her family, and for her circumstances.”
++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++
STORYLINE:
The Iowa Supreme Court said Friday the state’s strict abortion law is legal, telling a lower court to dissolve a temporary block on the law and allowing Iowa to ban most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy — before many women know they are pregnant.
The 4-3 ruling is a win for Republican lawmakers, and Iowa joins more than a dozen other states with restrictive abortion laws following the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
The instructions to the lower court will be formally sent in 21 days and, for now, abortion remains legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks of pregnancy. It is unclear how long the district court would take to act after that point.
Currently, 14 states have near-total bans at all stages of pregnancy and three ban abortions at about six weeks.
The Iowa Supreme Court’s majority reiterated on Friday that there is no constitutional right to abortion. As the state requested, they instructed courts to assess whether the government has a legitimate interest in restricting the procedure, rather than whether there is too heavy a burden for people seeking abortion access.
In writing the majority’s opinion, Justice Matthew McDermott wrote that a right to an abortion is “not rooted at all in our state’s history and tradition.” In fact, the majority determined it was the opposite.
“The state’s interest in protecting the unborn can be traced to Iowa’s earliest days,” he wrote.
But Chief Justice Susan Christensen emphatically delivered a dissent, writing that the majority opinion “strips Iowa women of their bodily autonomy.”
Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds immediately released a celebratory statement Friday morning.
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