Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds convened a special session of the state legislature on Tuesday to approve a measure that would strengthen protection for unborn babies with a six-week abortion ban.
This development comes after the Iowa Supreme Court was unable to reach a decision on the enforceability of the state’s existing six-week ban enacted in 2018 but blocked by a lower court judge.
Under the proposed legislation, abortion would be prohibited once a fetal cardiac activity is detected, commonly referred to as a fetal heartbeat, which typically occurs around the six-week mark of pregnancy.
Currently, abortion is legal in Iowa until the 20-week mark of pregnancy.
The measure is expected to pass the state House and Senate, which both have a Republican majority. Ms. Reynolds called for a marathon one-day special session with the sole purpose of implementing the protection measure. Once Ms. Reynolds signs the bill, it will take immediate effect.
“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,” Ms. Reynolds wrote in an order calling state lawmakers to meet on July 11 to address the matter of reimposing the restriction on abortion.
The proposed law would mark a win for pro-life advocates in the Midwest, where restrictions on abortion have been implemented in neighboring states such as Missouri, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. However, legal challenges are underway against Wisconsin’s ban.
In an official statement announcing the special session, Ms. Reynolds strongly condemned the act of abortion, emphasizing the “inhumanity” associated with it. She affirmed that Iowa lawmakers are committed to ensuring legal protection for the unborn and would persist in their efforts.
‘Doesn’t a Beating Heart Indicate Life?’
The legislation being considered during the special session on Tuesday closely mirrors a previous measure signed into law by Ms. Reynolds in 2018.That law was passed along party lines to strengthen protections for the unborn by reducing the state’s 20-week ban to when a fetal heartbeat is detected, roughly around six weeks.
“I understand that not everyone will agree with this decision,” Ms. Reynolds said in a statement after signing the bill in 2018. “But if death is determined when a heart stops beating, then doesn’t a beating heart indicate life? For me, it is immoral to stop an innocent beating heart.”
However, the 2018 ban was never enforced. Various pro-abortion organizations filed lawsuits seeking to block the law. In 2019, a district court invalidated the six-week abortion ban, as a judge in Polk County District Court ruled it unconstitutional according to state and federal laws, as Roe v. Wade was still in force at the time. The state did not challenge the judge’s ruling.
Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade last year, Ms. Reynolds attempted to reinstate the ban but faced opposition from a district court judge. She subsequently appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court, where a deadlock of 3–3 maintained the lower court’s decision.
Opponents of the legislation—which includes provisions to permit abortions for medical emergencies, rape, incest, and fetal abnormalities—argued that the six-week timeframe prohibited abortions before many women even realized they were pregnant.
In her January 2023 “Condition of the State” speech, the governor noted that she has “fought so hard in the courts to make sure that this legislative body can do what it so clearly has the power to do: protect the unborn.”
On July 5, Ms. Reynolds said that Iowans had voted for their representatives in the state legislature to “stand up for the rights of the unborn and, in doing so, they have voted strongly in support of pro-life principles and against the arbitrary destruction of innocent, defenseless lives.”