Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has asked the Iowa Supreme Court to reinstate an abortion ban and multiple pro-life laws protecting babies from abortion following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Governor Reynolds wants the court to uphold the heartbeat abortion ban she signed in 2018 that would ban abortions on unborn babies after six weeks when their heartbeats can be detected. She also wants the state’s highest court to enforce a late-term abortion ban and waiting time laws that help women and give babies some protection.
“Now is the time for us to stand up and continue the fight to protect the unborn,” said Government Leader Reynolds. “The landmark Supreme Court decision reaffirms that states have the right to protect the innocent and defenseless unborn – and now is the time for our state to do just that. As governor, I will do everything possible to defend the most important freedom: the right to life.”
Attorney General Tom Miller, a pro-abortion Democrat, has also stated that he will retire from representing the state in these cases. Gov. Reynolds retains Alliance Defending Freedom and Iowa attorney Alan Ostergren, President and Chief Counsel of the Kirkwood Institute, to represent the state at no cost to Iowa taxpayers.
The Iowa Constitution makes no mention of abortion. Still, in 2018 — 161 years after the ratification of Iowa’s current Constitution — a majority of the Iowa Supreme Court asserted that a “fundamental right” to abortion existed under the Iowa Constitution, including virtually any law passed by the legislature to protect the life of an unborn child would be considered unconstitutional under the so-called “strict control” standard.
That decision, which closed the door to the Democratic process, was broader in protecting abortion than the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court, Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, placing Iowa Supreme Court case law at the forefront—The left side of almost every state in the nation.
Fortunately, on June 17, the Iowa Supreme Court corrected that grave mistake and overturned the 2018 decision. Subjected,” and said the 2018 decision was a “unilateral” ruling that “misses textual and historical support.”
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Nevertheless, unlike the U.S. Supreme Court in Dobbs, the Iowa Supreme Court has not definitively decided what standard should be applied to abortion restrictions under the Iowa Constitution. Several judges invited the parties to litigate the matter further. In the meantime, it declared that the “unnecessary burden” standard of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey would “temporarily” apply to the Iowa law. But the US Supreme Court has dropped that norm in Dobbs.
As LifeNews reported, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, holding a 6-3 majority decision in the Dobbs case that “the Constitution does not grant the right to abortion” — allowing states to ban abortions and protect unborn babies. The Supreme Court also ruled 6-3 to uphold Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban, allowing states to restrict abortions further and remove the false viability standard.
Chief Justice John Roberts technically voted for the verdict but, in his opinion, disagreed with the reasoning, saying he wanted to keep abortion legal but with a new standard.
Texas and Oklahoma had banned abortions before Roe was destroyed and Missouri became the first state after Roe to protect babies from abortions, and South Dakota became the 2nd. Then Arkansas became the third state to protect babies from abortion, Kentucky became 4th, Louisiana became 5th, Ohio became 6th, Utah became 7th, Oklahoma became 8th, and Alabama became 9th. Yesterday Mississippi took 10th and South Carolina 11th.
Michigan, Wisconsin, and West Virginia have old pro-life laws, but whether they apply and will be enforced is questionable.
Ultimately, as many as 26 states could immediately or expeditiously ban abortions and protect babies from certain death for the first time in nearly 50 years.
The 13 states with trigger laws that would effectively ban all or most abortions are Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.
“Abortion poses a profound moral question. The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of any state from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey have usurped that authority. We now reject those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives,” Alito wrote.
“Roe was wrong from the start. The reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences,” Alito wrote. “And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have fueled debate and deepened divisions.”
This is a milestone for the Pro-Life movement and our entire nation. After nearly 50 years of staining the moral fabric of our country, Roe v. Wade is no more.
Judges Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Stephen Breyer wrote a joint dissent condemning the decision to allow states to impose “draconian” restrictions on women.
Polls show that Americans support abortion.
