DES MOINES, Iowa (LifeSiteNews) – The Iowa Supreme Court agreed to reconsider the constitutionality of banning abortion upon detection of a fetal heartbeat in light of state lawmakers recently re-passing the policy.
Earlier this month, Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a law banning abortion starting at around six weeks, with exceptions for rape, incest, fatal fetal abnormalities, threats to the mother’s life, and miscarriages while allowing abortion for any reason prior to the detection of a fetal heartbeat.
Iowa already had such a law on the books since 2018, but in June the state’s highest court deadlocked on its legality, with a 3-3 vote that resulted in it continuing to be blocked from enforcement. Three argued that the law should be allowed to take effect in light of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade last year, and three held that, as Justice Thomas Waterman claimed, it would “bypass the legislature” to let an act of the legislature take effect, and that “legislative reenactment” should be required to “assur[e] that a current legislative majority supports the statutory restriction on liberty.”
In response, Reynolds filed an appeal of the ruling and called a special legislative session to pass the heartbeat ban again, giving the court a “clear answer” as to the will of the legislature and declaring that the “voices of Iowans and their democratically elected representatives cannot be ignored any longer, and justice for the unborn should not be delayed.”
On Tuesday, the Iowa Supreme Court announced it will review the matter again, The Des Moines Register reported, although it did not clarify when in its next session the case will happen, which could be anytime between September through the end of June 2024.
“I am glad that the Supreme Court has agreed to hear our appeal,” Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird said. “I look forward to continuing to defend the Heartbeat Law and protect the right to life in court.”
Fourteen states currently ban all or most abortions, with available data so far indicating those states could effectively wipe out an estimated 200,000 abortions a year.
In response, abortion allies pursue a variety of tactics to preserve abortion “access,” such as easing distribution of abortion pills, legal protection and financial support of interstate abortion travel, attempting to enshrine “rights” to the practice in state constitutions rather than the U.S. Constitution, constructing new abortion facilities near borders shared by pro-life and pro-abortion states, and making liberal states sanctuaries for those who want to evade or violate the laws of more pro-life neighbors.
President Joe Biden has called on Congress to codify a “right” to abortion in federal law, which would not only restore but expand the Roe status quo by making it illegal for states to pass virtually any pro-life laws.