The Iowa Supreme Court is expected to release a major decision on abortion rights Friday.
The court will determine whether or not most abortions can be banned around six weeks of pregnancy. Abortion is currently legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Republican Gov. Kim Reynoldssigned a bill into law in 2018 that bans abortions, with some exceptions, when a “fetal heartbeat” is detected. That can be about six weeks after a person’s last period, when the pregnancy is still medically considered an embryo.
The law was blocked by the Polk County District Court and never took effect, with a judge ruling in 2019 that the law was unconstitutional based on state and federal abortion rights protections. Reynolds did not appeal the decision to the Iowa Supreme Court at the time.
But last June, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled there is no fundamental right to abortion subject to strict scrutiny, undermining the state’s strong abortion rights protections. Then, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending federal protection for abortion rights.
Following those decisions, Reynolds asked the courtsto reinstate the six-week ban.
“So that in itself is very rare procedurally and might be the reason why a court inclined to otherwise support such a statute might be inclined to reject this case,” said Sally Frank, a law professor at Drake University.
Five justices on the Iowa Supreme Court were appointed by Reynolds, and the other two were appointed by former Republican Gov. Terry Branstad.
Reynolds’ legal team argued last year’s court decisions mean the law is now constitutional and can be enforced. They also argued that the proper legal standard for evaluating abortion restrictions is the rational basis test, which would allow for banning abortion.
Lawyers for Planned Parenthood and the ACLU of Iowa argued there was no legal basis for reinstating a law that was unconstitutional when it was passed and was struck down by a court more than four years ago. They also said the Iowa Supreme Court left in place the “undue burden” standard for abortion rights, which would mean the “fetal heartbeat” abortion ban is still unconstitutional at the state level.
Frank said there are three main possibilities for the Iowa Supreme Court. It could reject the case for procedural reasons and decline to rule on abortion at this time, leaving the 20-week limit in place.
The justices could agree with Reynolds that the six-week ban should take effect and find that the rational basis test applies to abortion restrictions in Iowa. Or they could decide the undue burden test applies and leave the six-week ban unenforceable.
Republican leaders have not said publicly if they would call a special legislative session to pass new abortion restrictions if the Iowa Supreme Court rejects the six-week ban.
“I’m pro-life and will do everything I can to maintain the rights of the unborn,” Reynolds said during a recent Iowa PBS appearance. “We’ll wait and see where the Supreme Court ruling lands, and we’ll make decisions after that.”
If the law is upheld by the Court, Frank said it would technically go into effect 21 days after the decision. But abortion providers may start following the new law immediately.
April Clark, a board member for the Iowa Abortion Access Fund, said the six-week ban combined with Iowa’s current law requiring an ultrasound at least 24 hours in advance of an abortion would make it very difficult to get an abortion in Iowa.
“They would have to find out that they were pregnant, make an appointment and get into both appointments before six weeks,” Clark said. “And that’s often before most people even know that they’re pregnant.”
That would leave most Iowans seeking abortions to go to states like Illinois or Minnesota, self-manage a medication abortion, or go through with an unwanted pregnancy.
