Following the Iowa Supreme Court’s recent rejection of the state’s Heartbeat Act, Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa convened a special session of the state legislature to reinstate the state’s abortion restrictions.
A pre-Dobbs law that forbade abortion whenever a fetal heartbeat could be found—roughly six weeks—was overturned by a divided court in June. Abortions were only prohibited after 20 weeks when the state’s top court declared the statute unconstitutional.
The Republican stated in a statement that “Iowa voters have chosen representatives determined to make a stand for the rights that belong to the unborn and, while doing so, they’ve voted strongly in their backing of pro-life values while opposing the arbitrary taking of innocent, powerless lives.”
“The pro-life movement is, in my opinion, the most significant human rights issue of our time,” Reynolds went on. “I am going to keep working to help women as they prepare for motherhood, promote paternity and parenting, and maintain policies that promote strong families. Along with that, I will keep fighting against the barbaric act of abortion.”
On July 11, the special meeting will start. Since a number of the current lawmakers weren’t in office at the time the legislature passed the 2018 Fetal Heartbeat Law, it is unknown what a new abortion law will look like. Republicans may disagree on whether to enact tougher laws or less stringent ones.
Also undetermined is whether the Iowa Supreme Court would invalidate yet another pro-life statute. A significant portion of the court’s justification for invalidating the 2018 legislation was that the legislature would have to adopt it again before it would be effective since Roe v. Wade made it impossible for it to be put into effect.
A new pro-life statute may be deemed constitutional in a judicial challenge if the majority opinion in the court’s decision indicated a willingness to reduce the standard that state abortion restrictions must fulfill. Republicans appointed every single justice.
Democrats are expected to reject any bill that further restricts abortion in the state assembly. “The governor and GOP leaders are obviously not listening to Iowans since a sizable majority favors reproductive freedom,” according to state house minority leader Jennifer Konfrst. Reynolds’ request for a special session, according to Konfrst, “is all politics.”
“Republican radicals, backed by Governor Kim Reynolds, are racing to restrict the rights and liberties that Iowans have long enjoyed,” State Senate Minority Leader Pam Jochum stated. “And they believe they can do it quickly enough that Iowans will not even notice. This harsh abortion restriction will cost women their own lives as well as their rights, therefore it’s time for Iowans to take action.”
Republicans have implemented pro-life legislation with varying degrees of success around the country, including successes in Indiana and North Carolina and setbacks in Kansas and Oklahoma.
