Iowa law includes exceptions for cases of rape and incest. (Representative)
Washington:
After a yearlong legal battle, Iowa became the latest U.S. state to enact a near-total abortion ban on Monday, keeping the contentious issue of reproductive rights at the forefront of November’s presidential election.
The law prohibits the termination of almost all pregnancies after six weeks – the point at which a fetal heartbeat can be detected – although many women do not realize they are pregnant at this stage.
Previously, abortion was allowed in the Midwestern state up to 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Initially approved last year and signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds, the ban was lifted by a judge but later reinstated following a narrow 4-3 ruling by the Iowa Supreme Court last month.
“This morning, more than 1.5 million women in Iowa woke up with fewer rights than they had last night because of another Trump abortion ban,” US Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate.
His Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, nominated three conservative justices to the Supreme Court who, in 2022, helped overturn Roe v. Wade. Wade, the historic decision that guaranteed the national right to abortion for almost 50 years.
Iowa law includes exceptions for cases of rape and incest, as well as situations where the life of the fetus or mother is at risk.
However, in states with similar bans, these exemptions have often proven ineffective, with hospitals and doctors hesitant to risk lawsuits, forcing women to seek care outside of the state.
“Patients will be forced to travel hundreds of miles from home to find abortion care if they have the means to do so,” said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights.
“Others will be forced to carry their pregnancies to term, regardless of their determination about what is best for their lives, health, families and future. People with serious pregnancy complications will be kept away from hospitals until they collapse.”
Challenging issue for Republicans
Iowa is now among 22 states that have set stricter standards for abortion since the overturn of Roe, ranging from outright bans to earlier pregnancy limits.
Trump carried Iowa by more than eight points in 2020 and is expected to win handily this time as well.
Still, the abortion issue remains a challenge for Republicans, who must face the risk of alienating independent and moderate voters.
A March poll by the Des Moines Register/Mediacom found that 61 percent of Iowans believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 35 percent believe it should be illegal in most or all cases. cases – a trend consistent with national polls.
Democrats, on the other hand, were heartened by President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the race in favor of Harris, long seen as the administration’s true defender of reproductive rights.
“I don’t think people fully understand how angry women are about the overturning of Roe — Harris has the ability to make that clear,” feminist author Jessica Valenti, who runs “Abortion, Every Day” on Substack, recently told AFP. .
A YouGov poll released last week found that Harris enjoyed a 12-point lead over Trump on abortion, significantly higher than the five-point advantage Biden held over Trump in early July.
On the Republican side, Trump’s running mate, J.D. Vance, made the divide between the two parties even sharper, expressing a desire to make abortion “nationally illegal,” voting against protections for in vitro fertilization and comparing abortion to “slavery”.
(Except the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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