A law that bans abortion before most women know they are pregnant takes effect in Iowa on Monday, further reshaping abortion access in America more than two years after Roe v. Wade was overturned.
The law bans abortions after fetal “cardiac activity” can be detected — electrical activity that’s usually spotted by an ultrasound after about six weeks, which is before many women know they are pregnant.
The law will have a ripple effect across the Midwest, as people seeking abortions will need to travel greater distances and wait longer to obtain care.
GOP-led states including South Dakota and Missouri have banned or restricted abortion, while Democratic led states like Illinois and Minnesota have worked to strengthen and protect access to it.
Illinois and Minnesota are the closest states to Iowans that allow abortion, though some women may be able to go to Nebraska, which bans abortion after 12 weeks.
Iowa’s law was passed by state Republicans last year during a special session and briefly took effect before it was blocked in response to a lawsuit from abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood of the Heartland and the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa.
The Iowa Supreme Court ruled 4-3 last month that the ban could be enforced, saying there was no constitutional right to an abortion in the state.
There are some exceptions for rape and incest if reported to the police or health provider within a specific time period. Medical exceptions include a fetal abnormality that’s “incompatible with life” or if the pregnancy endangers the woman’s life.
Survivors of sexual abuse have exactly 45 days to tell police or a doctor. Survivors of incest have 140 days. To perform an abortion without risking professional discipline, Iowa’s Board of Medicine requires doctors to document the attack in detail and judge the girl's or woman’s credibility.
“Today is a victory for life. There is nothing more sacred and no cause more worthy than protecting innocent unborn lives,” Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) said in a statement last week when it was announced that the ban would go into effect Monday.
Iowa is now the fourth state with “heartbeat” laws that that ban abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy. Fourteen other states have near-total bans at all stages of pregnancy.
Democrats hope to use support for abortion rights to their electoral advantage this year at both the state and national levels. In a statement, Democrats blasted the new law and put the blame for it squarely on former President Trump.
“So today, Iowa put in place a Trump abortion ban, which makes Iowa the 22nd state in our country to have a Trump abortion ban,” Vice President Harris, the likely Democratic presidential nominee, said in a video released Monday. “What this means is that 1 in 3 women of reproductive age in America lives in a state with a Trump abortion ban. So what we need to do is vote.”
The Harris campaign is using the Iowa ban as a jumping-off point to launch a “Fight for Reproductive Freedom Week of Action” with events across key battleground states “to ensure voters understand all that’s at stake for reproductive rights in this election.”
Second gentleman Douglas Emhoff and surrogates including Reproductive Freedom for All CEO Mini Timmaraju, Texas-based radio host Ryan Hamilton and Kentucky reproductive rights activist Hadley Duvall will be on the trail in New Hampshire, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan and Nevada, the campaign said.
In Iowa, meanwhile, abortion clinics said they plan to continue operations to the extent they are legally allowed, and will also help women travel out of the state.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion rights research group, there were an estimated 4,150 abortions performed in Iowa in 2023. Officials from Planned Parenthood North Central States have estimated the number of procedures performed in the state could drop by at least 97 percent once the law is in effect.
