Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on Wednesday called a special legislative session to pursue new abortion restrictions after the state Supreme Court declined to reinstate a 2018 ban after about six weeks of pregnancy.
The court was split 3-3 last month and did not issue a decision on the merits of the law, leaving open the possibility that the GOP-controlled Legislature would try to pass a similar ban. In the meantime, abortion remains legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks of pregnancy.“Iowans deserve to have their legislative body address the issue of abortion expeditiously and all unborn children deserve to have their lives protected by the government as the fetal heartbeat law did,” Reynolds wrote in the order.
Democrats in the Legislature immediately issued statements denouncing the expected restrictions as at odds with the majority of Iowa residents. Polling shows most U.S. adults, including Iowans, support at least some access to abortion in general, even as views on the issue are complicated. Few say abortion should be illegal in all cases.
Most Republican-led states have significantly curbed abortion access since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year. Separately, the Iowa Supreme Court in 2022 reversed an opinion that said the state constitution affirms a fundamental right to abortion. After those rulings, Reynolds declined to call a special session last year to enact new restrictions, instead choosing to work through the state courts to try to get the 2018 ban into effect. The law, which included exceptions for medical emergencies, rape, incest and fetal abnormality, had been blocked by a 2019 district court ruling.Iowa’s high court has not resolved whether earlier rulings that applied an “undue burden test” for abortion laws remain in effect.
Reynolds has ordered a special session just one other year, in 2021, when lawmakers came together in two separate special sessions to approve the drawing of congressional and legislative districts.
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