Statewide, Iowa — Attorneys representing Governor Kim Reynolds have taken the formal step of asking a district court to let a state law take effect that would ban most abortions in Iowa.
Attorneys with the Alliance Defending Freedom and Iowa attorney Alan Ostergren filed a motion, asking the court to lift its injunction against a law that bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected. That’s generally around the sixth week of a pregnancy. In a written statement, Governor Reynolds indicated recent rulings from both the United States Supreme Court as well as the Iowa Supreme Court provide pathways to challenge the injunction and have the law take effect. Reynolds says life and death are determined by a person’s heartbeat and Reynolds said she believes that includes unborn children. When Reynolds signed the so-called “fetal heartbeat” law four years ago, it was the toughest abortion law in the country.
“I believe that all innocent life is precious and sacred and, as Governor, I have pledged to do everything in my power to protect it,” Reynolds said. Those were comments the governor made in her Capitol office when she signed the law in May of 2018. The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa and Planned Parenthood of the Heartland immediately filed the lawsuit that has kept the law on hold for the past four years. This past June, the Iowa Supreme Court issued a ruling that has let a 24-hour waiting period for abortions go into effect. Reynolds says that ruling has set a new standard for reviewing abortion-related cases and should lead the district court to let the six-week abortion ban take effort. Iowa House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst says Iowans are exhausted and fed up with politicians interfering in deeply personal decisions and Konfrst says “Governor Reynolds and GOP lawmakers will not stop until there is a complete abortion ban in Iowa.
