Iowa Republicans Ram Through Six-Week Abortion Ban In One-Day Special Session
Tuesday’s ban makes Iowa yet another red state where the legislature has passed abortion restrictions that go much further than the majority of its constituents want. But, wielding a supermajority in the state Senate and majority in the state House, Iowa Republicans have the votes to cater to the small but vocal anti-abortion minority.
Read more at Talking Points Memo
Iowa lawmakers approve ban on most abortions after about 6 weeks
The bill passed with exclusively Republican support in a rare, one-day legislative burst lasting more than 14 hours over the vocal – and sometimes tense – objections from Democratic lawmakers and abortion advocates protesting at the Capitol.
Read more at Politico
Iowa is about to implement one of the strictest abortion bans in the US
The exceptions to the ban are limited, and Republican lawmakers rejected amendments proposed by Democrats that would have expanded them. The organizations challenging the law, including Planned Parenthood North Central States, the Emma Goldman Clinic, and the ACLU of Iowa, said in a joint statement that people who do meet the criteria for an exception will face “barriers to care” and that “the reality is that abortion will be largely unavailable for most vulnerable Iowans that might try to rely upon these exceptions.”
Read more at Vox
Reproductive rights groups sue to stop Iowa’s new 6-week abortion ban
“If this abortion ban goes into effect, it will place an unacceptable burden on patients’ ability to access essential abortion care, especially those who already face systemic inequities,” Ruth Richardson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States, said in a statement. “Hundreds of Iowans will be impacted in mere weeks. We refuse to stand idly by and will fight every step of the way to block this abortion ban and restore Iowans’ rights.”
Read more at NBC News
Abortion providers sue to block Iowa’s new abortion ban
By banning the vast majority of abortions, the lawsuit claims the bill violates Iowans’ constitutional rights to abortion and substantive due process.
The lawsuit also alleges the ban violates their rights to equal protection under the state Constitution by singling out abortion from other medical procedures, and discriminating against women based on their sex.
Rad more at The Hill