Iowa’s strict abortion law took effect Monday, immediately banning most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant.
Iowa Republican leaders have pursued the law for years and gained momentum after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Wade in 2022. The Iowa Supreme Court also issued a ruling that year saying there was no constitutional right to abortion in the state.
“There is no right more sacred than life,” Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds said in June. “I’m glad the Iowa Supreme Court upheld the will of the people of Iowa.”
Now, all over the countryfour states ban abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy, and 14 states have near-total bans at all stages of pregnancy.
Iowa abortion providers have been fighting the new law but continue to prepare for it by bolstering abortion access in neighboring states and building on lessons learned where bans took effect more quickly.
They said they will continue to operate in Iowa in compliance with the new law, but Sarah Traxler, medical director for Planned Parenthood’s North Central States, called it a “devastating and dark” moment in the state’s history.
The law was passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature in a special session last year, but a legal challenge was immediately filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, Planned Parenthood North Central States and the Emma Goldman Clinic. The law was in effect for just a few days before a district judge temporarily blocked it, a decision Gov. Kim Reynolds appealed to the state’s highest court.
The Iowa Supreme Court 4-3 decision in June reiterated that there is no constitutional right to abortion in the state and ordered that the suspension be lifted. A district court judge said last week that the suspension would be lifted Monday morning.
The law prohibits abortion after cardiac activity can be detected, which occurs at approximately six weeks. There are limited exceptions in cases of rape, incest, fetal abnormality or when the mother’s life is in danger. Previously, abortion in Iowa was legal up to 20 weeks of pregnancy.
The state medical council defined practice standards for adhering to the law earlier this year, although the rules do not describe disciplinary actions or how the board would determine noncompliance.
Three abortion clinics in two Iowa cities offer in-person abortion procedures and will continue to do so before cardiac activity is detected, according to Planned Parenthood representatives and Emma Goldman.
A law based on cardiac activity is “complicated,” Planned Parenthood’s Traxler said. Since six weeks is approximately, “we don’t necessarily have plans to cut off access to people at a certain gestational age,” she said.
For more than a year, the region’s Planned Parenthood has also been making investments in and outside of Iowa to prepare for the restrictions. As in other regions, it has dedicated staff answering phones, helping people find appointments, connect with other providers, arrange travel plans or financial assistance.
It is also remodeling its center in Omaha, Nebraska, just across the state line, and recently offers medication abortion in Mankato, Minnesota, about an hour drive from Iowa.
But providers worry that the drastic change in access will exacerbate health inequities for Iowans of color and residents of low-income families.
Across the country, the abortion situation has been constantly changing since the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, with triggering laws taking effect immediately, states passing new restrictions or expansions of access, and court battles halting them.
In states with restrictions, the main abortion options are increasingly pills via telehealth or underground networks It is travelingvastly increasing demand in states with more access.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
