(NewsNation) — A law in Iowa that prohibits most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy — before many women know they’re pregnant — took effect Monday morning.
A lower court temporarily blocked the law after it was passed by the state legislature in a special session last July because of legal challenges filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, Planned Parenthood North Central States and the Emma Goldman Clinic.
However, the Iowa Supreme Court ordered the hold be lifted, arguing that there’s no constitutional right to abortion in the state.
There are still certain circumstances where abortions could be allowed after the six-week deadline. These are if the procedure is reported to law enforcement or a health provider within 45 days; incest, if reported within 145 days; if the fetus has an abnormality “incompatible with life”; or if the pregnancy endangers the mother’s life.
In a statement last week, Gov. Kim Reynolds called the ban a “victory for life.”
“There is nothing more sacred and no cause more worthy than protecting innocent unborn lives,” Reynolds said.
Organizations such as the state and local ACLU, meanwhile, called it “extreme” and a “devastating blow to Iowans’ access to essential health care.”
Abortion in Iowa
Iowa is now one of 14 states with near-total bans at all stages of pregnancy, and one of four that bans abortions after six weeks.
Research and policy organization Guttmacher Institute estimates there were 4,100 clinician-provided abortions in Iowa during 2023. Since 2020, the institute states, the state has seen a 16.4% increase in abortions.
Of the 3,761 total abortions in Iowa that happened in 2021, 44% occurred at or before six weeks gestational age, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Representatives from Planned Parenthood and the Emma Goldman Clinic in Iowa City have said they will continue providing services in Iowa that comply with the new law. Dr. Sarah Traxler, chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood North Central States, said the clinic will continue to schedule patients for abortion care if their pregnancy has not reached six weeks, or two weeks after their first missed menstrual period, according to the Des Moines Register. Abortion clinics across the state worked to see as many patients as they could in the week before the law became effective, the newspaper reported.
Planned Parenthood in Iowa stopped abortion services in two cities in the last year, including Des Moines. Two of the state’s five Planned Parenthood clinics offer in-person abortion services, and three offer abortion through medication.
“Abortion is essential, time-sensitive health care. We want people to know that Planned Parenthood is here and committed to meeting the health care needs of as many patients as possible,” Ruth Richardson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central, said in a statement. “We have spent months planning for the possibility of this new reality, putting in place patient navigators and other supports to connect patients with the care they so desperately need—both now and in the future.”
The Emma Goldman Clinic wrote it remains committed to “helping connect Iowans with the essential, life-saving health care they need and deserve.”
“The courts and politicians have no place in our exam rooms. Today marks a dark day in our state’s history that robs Iowans of their fundamental right to make what should be fully informed, private medical decisions,” Emma Goldman Clinic said in a statement. “It will have devastating impacts on already poor health outcomes in Iowa and force people into pregnancy. We want our patients to know we are here and ready to help them navigate this manufactured chaos and confusion.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
