Culture and Social Issues

Advocates Sue Republican Gov Over Last-Minute Abortion Legislation One Day After Being Passed By GOP

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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Republican Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds after the legislature passed a heartbeat bill the night before.

Reynolds called a special legislative session Tuesday, and both the House and the Senate passed a heartbeat bill that bans abortions after cardiac activity is detected. The new law was immediately challenged by the Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, the Emma Goldman Clinic and the ACLU of Iowa, who filed a lawsuit against the state over the bill.

“Today, we continue the fight to protect Iowans’ fundamental right to reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy as we seek a temporary injunction to block the egregious abortion ban Iowa lawmakers rammed through during an unprecedented one-day special session,” Ruth Richardson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States, said in a press release. “These out-of-touch politicians have inserted themselves into the exam rooms of Iowans, who no longer have control over their bodies and futures because of an unpopular, narrow political agenda.”

The bill bans abortions in Iowa after a heartbeat is detected, except in the cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother, and requires a physician to perform an ultrasound to determine if there is cardiac activity. The lawsuit is asking that a court would put in place a temporary injunction to halt Reynolds from signing the bill on Friday, as she promised to do in a Wednesday press release.

“The voices of Iowans and their democratically elected representatives cannot be ignored any longer, and justice for the unborn should not be delayed,” Reynolds said in the press release.

The ACLU and Planned Parenthood of the Heartland sued the state over a similar law banning abortions after six weeks passed in 2018, and won the case after the state Supreme Court ruled in June that the law was unconstitutional since it violated a woman’s right to privacy. In response, Reynolds called legislatures back to the capitol for a special session to get the heartbeat bill passed.