Abortion will remain legal in Iowa for up to 20 weeks after the state Supreme Court on Friday declined to lift a block on a six-week ban.
In a 3-3 decision, the state's high court could not reach a consensus on whether it should overturn a lower court decision to strike down Iowa's restrictive "fetal heartbeat" law, which was passed in 2018. The law sought to prevent doctors from performing an abortion if a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can happen as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, before many women even know they are pregnant.
Calling the case "extraordinary," Justice Thomas D. Waterman explained in an order that lifting the block would be akin to bypassing the state legislature.
"When the statute was enacted in 2018, it had no chance of taking effect," Waterman wrote, noting that its supporters anticipated a legal challenge at a time when federal protections for abortion rights remained in effect. "To put it politely, the legislature was enacting a hypothetical law. Today, such a statute might take effect given the change in the constitutional law landscape. But uncertainty exists about whether a fetal heartbeat bill would be passed today. To begin, a different general assembly is in place than was in place in 2018, with significant turnover of membership in the intervening three election cycles."
Ruth Richardson, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States, called the ruling an "enormous win" that "means that Iowans will be able to control their bodies and their futures."
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, said her office was reviewing legal options.
"To say that today's lack of action by the Iowa Supreme Court is a disappointment is an understatement," Reynolds said in a statement. "Not only does it disregard Iowa voters who elected representatives willing to stand up for the rights of unborn children, but it has sided with a single judge in a single county who struck down Iowa's legislation based on principles that now have been flat-out rejected by the US Supreme Court."
