Iowa abortion ruling: State Supreme Court lets strict law go into effect

The Supreme Court of the US state of Iowa said on Friday (June 28) that the state's strict abortion law was legal. According to American media, the Supreme Court told a lower court todissolve a temporary block on the law and allow Iowa to ban most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy.

The 4-3 rulingis a win for Republican lawmakers. With this ruling, Iowa joins more than a dozen other states with restrictive abortion laws following the USSupreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, a report by the news agency Associated Press said.

A reiteration by the Iowa SC

Until the lower court follows through on the high court’s instruction,abortion remains legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks of pregnancy. It was unclear when the lower court would take action, the report said.

It added that currently, 14 states have near-total bans at all stages of pregnancy, and three ban abortions at about six weeks. On Friday, the Iowa Supreme Court reiteratedthat there was no constitutional right to abortion.

Celebrating the top court's decision, Iowa's GovernorKim Reynolds said, "I’m glad that the Iowa Supreme Court has upheld the will of the people of Iowa."

However, the court'sChief Justice Susan Christensen criticised the decision.

“Today, our court’s majority strips Iowa women of their bodily autonomy by holding that there is no fundamental right to terminate a pregnancy under our state constitution. I cannot stand by this decision,” Chief JusticeChristensen said in a statement.

Are there any exemptions to the law?

There are limited circumstances under the Iowa law that would allow for abortion after six weeks of pregnancy:

These are:

1) Rape, if reported to law enforcement or a health provider within 45 days.

2) Incest, if reported within 145 days.

3) If the fetus has a fetal abnormality “incompatible with life”; or if the pregnancy is endangering the life of the patient.

'Ruling will force women...'

Candace Gibson, director of state policy at the Guttmacher Institute, an organisation that advocates for abortion access, said the ruling will force women seeking abortions to either leave Iowa, “navigate a self-managed abortion,” or carry an unwanted pregnancy to term.

In a statement, Gibson said, "Upholding this six-week ban in Iowa is a shocking blow to Iowans’ reproductive autonomy."

(With inputs from agencies)