Iowa’s 6-Week Abortion Limit Takes Effect

Iowa’s embattled six-week abortion restriction took effect on July 29, prompting a flurry of criticism from Democrats.

The measure prohibits abortion after fetal cardiac activity is detected—usually at around six weeks of pregnancy—with exceptions in cases of rape, incest, fetal abnormality, or if the mother’s life is in danger.

Abortion was previously legal in the state up until 20 weeks’ gestation.

As the law became enforceable, officials and abortion providers in neighboring Minnesota were preparing for an influx of clients from the Hawkeye State.

“As Iowa turns back the clock to the 1950s, we continue to do everything in our power to ensure Minnesotans—and our neighbors—can access the reproductive health care they need,” Minnesota’s Lt. Gov. Penny Flanagan, a Democrat, said in a post on X.

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Vice President Kamala Harris, the leading Democrat candidate for president, also criticized the Iowa law, linking it to her Republican rival, former President Donald Trump.

“Today, Iowa put in place a Trump abortion ban, which makes Iowa the 22nd state in our country to have a Trump abortion ban. And this ban is going to take effect before many women even know they’re pregnant,” Ms. Harris said in a video message shared by her social media accounts.

Urging her supporters to vote accordingly, the vice president pledged to sign into law “protections for reproductive freedom” if elected president in November.

The Harris campaign used the message to kick off a “week of action” across several battleground states to highlight “all that’s at stake for reproductive rights in this election.”

Several states have tightened restrictions on abortion following the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision in 2022 overturning the national right to abortion established in Roe v. Wade (1973).

President Trump nominated three of the six justices who made up the majority on that decision—a fact that Democrats have been quick to cite each time that states enact new abortion restrictions.

The former president holds that abortion is a states’ rights issue and should be decided by voters.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Iowa, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and local abortion providers immediately challenged the law, arguing that it imposed an undue burden on a woman’s ability to obtain an abortion.

The Iowa Supreme Court rejected those claims in June. The state, the court found, has a “legitimate interest” in protecting the lives of the unborn, ensuring maternal health and safety, and eliminating “particularly gruesome or barbaric medical procedures.”

The court also reiterated its stance that abortion is not a fundamental right—a position it took in June 2022, just one week before the U.S. Supreme Court followed suit.

Ms. Reynolds responded to last month’s decision by praising the Iowa Supreme Court for upholding “the will of the people.”

ACLU of Iowa Legal Director Rita Bettis Austen said the decision would force some women to face “serious and even life-threatening health consequences.”

Planned Parenthood has halted abortion services in two Iowa cities—including the state capital of Des Moines—since the law was passed.

Jacob Burg, Zachary Stieber, Catherine Yang, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.