The abortion law in the United States state of Iowa came into effect on Monday. The law prohibits abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy before many women know they are pregnant. Iowa joins more than a dozen other states with restrictive abortion laws following the US Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Now, across the United States, four states ban abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, and 14 states have near-total bans at all stages of pregnancy, according to the media reports.
In lowa the abortion law was passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature in a special session in 2023, but a legal challenge was filed immediately by the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, Planned Parenthood North Central States and the Emma Goldman Clinic.
The law was in effect for just a few days before a district judge temporarily blocked it, a decision Governor Kim Reynolds appealed to the state’s high court. In June 2024, the Iowa Supreme Court’s 4-3 ruling reiterated that there was no constitutional right to an abortion in the state and ordered the hold be lifted.
The law prohibits abortions after cardiac activity can be detected, which is roughly at six weeks. There are exceptions in the cases of rape, incest, fetal abnormality or when the life of the mother is in danger.
Previously, abortion in the state was legal up to 20 weeks of pregnancy. The state’s medical board had defined standards of practice for adhering to the law earlier this year, though the rules did not outline disciplinary action.
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