Iowa judge could postpone 6-week abortion ban

An Iowa judge could postpone the state’s newly passed abortion ban on Friday afternoon, just as Gov. Kim Reynolds gets ready to sign it into law.

Earlier this week, Iowa’s Republican-controlled legislature passed a bill that eliminates nearly all abortion procedures in the state after approximately six weeks of pregnancy — before many people even know they’re pregnant.

The bill passed late on Tuesday during a special session called by Reynold about a month after the Iowa Supreme Court declined to reinstate a six-week abortion ban.

The session’s “sole purpose” was to enact anti-abortion legislation, the governor said last week.

Pastor Michael Shover of Christ the Redeemer Church in Pella, left, argues with Ryan Maher, of Des Moines, as protestors voice opposition to a new ban on abortion after roughly six weeks of pregnancy in a special session in Des Moines, Iowa, on July 11, 2023. (Zach Boyden-Holmes/AP)

The signing ceremony is scheduled for Friday afternoon during a large evangelical gathering taking place in downtown Des Moines.

The Family Leadership Summit — described as the “Midwest’s largest gathering of Christians seeking cultural transformation in the family, church, government and more” — will also feature former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and several Republican presidential hopefuls, including Ron DeSantis, Mike Pence, Nikki Haley and Tim Scott.

About an hour after the bill-signing ceremony, a judge in Polk County Court — also in downtown Des Moines — will consider a request made by reproduction rights advocates, who seek a “temporary injunction to block the egregious abortion ban Iowa lawmakers rammed through during an unprecedented one-day special session.”

On Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties of Iowa, Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, and the Emma Goldman Clinic, an Iowa City-based organization that focuses on reproductive healthcare, filed a legal challenge to the ban, asking a circuit court to issue a temporary injunction that would prevent enforcement of the law.

Iowa Democrat Jennifer Konfrst speaks to protesters rallying at the Iowa Capitol rotunda in opposition to the new ban on abortion after roughly six weeks of pregnancy introduced by Republican lawmakers in a special session on Tuesday, July 11, 2023. (Hannah Fingerhut/AP)

In 2018, Planned Parenthood got the Iowa Supreme Court to block a “virtually identical” bill, which was signed by the governor. At the time, Iowa banned most abortion procedures after 22 weeks of pregnancy.

Last month, the state’s top court declined to reinstate the ban, leading the governor to call the special session.

If the ban takes effect, “Iowans will face life-threatening barriers to getting desperately needed medical care — just as we have seen in other states with similar bans,” said Rita Bettis Austen, legal director for the ACLU of Iowa.

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