Iowa Legislature passes bill banning most abortions after about 6 weeks; governor to sign Friday

DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Legislature has passed a bill that would ban nearly all abortions after roughly six weeks of pregnancy, with Gov. Kim Reynolds announcing she will sign the measure Friday.

The ban will go into effect with her signature, requiring healthcare providers to comply immediately. Shortly after 11 p.m., the Senate voted 32-17 to pass the legislation.

The vote, punctuated by boos and shouts of “shame” from onlookers, came two hours after the House passed the bill in a 56-34 vote.

The votes came in a marathon one-day special session that was punctuated by protesters’ angry shouts in the Iowa Capitol and hours of emotional testimony from supporters and opponents. The legislation would prohibit abortions after cardiac activity is detected in an embryo, which doctors say can happen as early as six weeks after a pregnant woman’s last period.

Republicans stressed that the timing would vary based on the individual.

That marks a sharp deviation from Iowa’s current law, which allows abortion up to 20 weeks after conception (or 22 weeks after the last menstrual period).

“This bill protects unborn children in Iowa,” said Rep. Shannon Lundgren. “This bill sets a clear standard where the state has an interest in the life of the child: when the baby’s heart starts beating. Where there is a heartbeat, there is life.”

House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst urged a fired-up crowd of abortion rights supporters to make their voices heard both now and in 2024.

“They’re going to see why they’re wrong. We’re doing this in the summer because they want us to forget,” Konfrst said, referring to Republican lawmakers. “We’re going to fight like hell today. We will show up. We will stand up. And I need you all in this fight.”

Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe V. Wade last year, a sweep of abortion restrictions has been introduced and passed in most Republican-led states.

More than a dozen states have abortion bans with limited exceptions. In Georgia, abortions are banned after cardiac activity is detected and several other states are facing pending court rulings on similar restrictions.

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What does the 6-week abortion bill do? What happens when it passes?

The “fetal heartbeat” law introduced by Republicans would ban nearly all abortions after cardiac activity can be detected in an embryo. That occurs at about six weeks of gestation — measured as six weeks after a woman’s last menstrual period began.

The legislation is nearly identical to a law signed by Reynolds in 2018, which was permanently blocked by the courts. Reynolds called the special session after the Iowa Supreme Court deadlocked 3-3 last month, leaving the law blocked.

Medical professionals say it’s misleading to call those early electric pulses a “fetal heartbeat,” as the embryo is not yet a fetus, and the cells that will become a heart do not yet move blood.

Iowa Democrats are united in their opposition to new restrictions on abortion, but Republicans hold large majorities and are expected to be able to push through the bill over their objections.

Ruth Richardson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States, has said Planned Parenthood is prepared to challenge the new law in court, but it’s unclear how quickly that would happen.

Under Iowa’s current law, which allows abortion up to 20 weeks of pregnancy, individuals must wait 24 hours between an initial appointment and an abortion procedure.

What exceptions does Iowa’s ‘fetal heartbeat’ bill have?

The bill has several exceptions.

For rape, if the rape is reported to law enforcement or to a public health agency or doctor within 45 days.
If the pregnancy is the result of incest, if the incest is reported to law enforcement or a public health agency or doctor within 140 days.
If “the attending physician certifies that the fetus has a fetal abnormality that in the physician’s reasonable medical judgment is incompatible with life.”
For a miscarriage “if not all of the products of conception are expelled.”
For a “medical emergency,” defined as “a situation in which an abortion is performed to preserve the life of the pregnant woman whose life is endangered by a physical disorder, physical illness or physical injury, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy” or when continuing the pregnancy “will create a serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman.”

The medical emergency exception does not include psychological, emotional or familial conditions or the woman’s age.

Iowans share personal stories, medical arguments during 90-minute public hearing

Iowans packed into rooms to plead their case directly to lawmakers, speaking both for and against the bill at a 90-minute public hearing in the House and then in a Senate subcommittee.

Some emotionally shared their experiences with abortion, and several expressed their dismay and anger with the proposed law.

In the Capitol rotunda Tuesday, protesters clanged bells and chanted: “Hey, hey, ho, ho, abortion bans have got to go,” and “My body, my choice” and occasionally pounded on the frosted glass of the room’s door.

Dr. Francesca Turner, an OB-GYN with Broadlawns Medical Center in Des Moines, said the language in the bill is ambiguous about when doctors can intervene in cases of pregnancy complications.

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“At what point when your wife or your daughter or your sister is having a medical emergency during a pregnancy do I get to save her life?” she said. “At what moment do I get to intervene? It’s unclear in this bill.”

Katie Buck, a West Des Moines resident, brought her 7-year-old son, Alex, to the hearing. Alex was born with trisomy 18, a genetic complication caused by an extra chromosome. The condition can be fatal.

Buck said it qualifies as one of the fetal abnormality exceptions allowed in the bill. She urged lawmakers to remove the exception from the bill.

“Alex is 7 years old. How can he be incompatible with life?” she said. “You have no idea how hard we had to fight against this fatal fetal anomaly label to get him the medical care he needed to survive.”

House Democrats said, as of Monday night, 1,025 people had left comments online opposed to the bill, and 37 had left comments supporting it.

How do Iowans feel about whether abortion should be legal?

Polling shows a majority of Iowans believe abortion should be legal.

A March Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll found 61% of Iowans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 35% say abortion should be illegal in all or most cases.