Abortion providers, ACLU sue to block Iowa's new 6-week 'fetal heartbeat' abortion ban

Abortion providers and the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa have filed a lawsuit to halt Iowa legislation that would ban most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, when cardiac activity is detected in an embryo.

The Iowa Legislature approved the "fetal heartbeat" bill Tuesday in an all-day special session. When Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds signs it into law on Friday, Iowa doctors will be forbidden from providing abortions after cardiac activity is detected during an abdominal ultrasound.

The ban includes limited exceptions to preserve the life of the mother and for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. Medical providers say the law will prohibit most abortions after about six weeks of gestation — measured as six weeks from the first day of the pregnant person's last menstrual period.

Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, the Emma Goldman Clinic and the ACLU of Iowa challenged the law on Wednesday. They're asking a Polk County District judge to temporarily block it from taking effect and then hear arguments to determine whether the law is constitutional.

"If this abortion ban goes into effect, it will place an unacceptable burden on patients’ ability to access essential abortion care, especially those who already face systemic inequities," Planned Parenthood North Central States President Ruth Richardson said in a statement. "Hundreds of Iowans will be impacted in mere weeks. We refuse to stand idly by and will fight every step of the way to block this abortion ban and restore Iowans’ rights.”

Polk County District Judge Joseph Seidlin will hear arguments Friday about whether to issue a temporary injunction to block the law from taking effect. The hearing is scheduled to begin 45 minutes before Reynolds signs the bill.

It's unclear how quickly Seidlin will decide whether to block the law.

"Any time that you make a request to a court, the court doesn't have to act immediately. … But we certainly hope that the courts, in this case, understand the urgency of the relief," said Peter Im, staff attorney at Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

What happened with Iowa's previous 'fetal heartbeat' law

A nearly identical Iowa law in 2018 was blocked by the courts from taking effect.

Reynolds sought to revive that law in 2022, after federal and state court decisions rolled back some protections for abortion. But the Iowa Supreme Court deadlocked 3-3 last month, leaving the law blocked and returning the question to the Iowa Legislature.

Reynolds said she intends to sign the new bill into law on Friday at the Family Leadership Summit, an annual gathering of conservative evangelicals.

"The Iowa Supreme Court questioned whether this Legislature would pass the same law they did in 2018, and today they have a clear answer," she said in a Tuesday statement. "The voices of Iowans and their democratically elected representatives cannot be ignored any longer, and justice for the unborn should not be delayed.”

Attorney General Brenna Bird, a Republican, pledged to defend the law in court.

"No right is more valuable than the right to life. By once again passing a law to protect the unborn, Iowa has demonstrated its commitment to supporting life at all stages," Bird said in a Wednesday email. "As attorney general, I will do my duty to defend the heartbeat law and protect the right to life in court."

What does the ACLU lawsuit argue?

The ACLU and abortion providers argue that the law will violate Iowans' inalienable rights, and their rights to due process and equal protection under the Iowa Constitution by banning the vast majority of abortions in Iowa, singling out abortion from other medical procedures and discriminating against women based on their sex.

They're asking for the court to temporarily block the law from taking effect, and then to declare that it violates the Iowa Constitution and strike it down permanently.

"When the act goes into effect, it will prohibit the vast majority of Iowans from accessing abortion," the lawsuit reads. "The ban will irreparably harm petitioners and their patients, and there is no adequate legal remedy."

The plaintiffs argued that the law would have an immediate effect on patients. Planned Parenthood of the Heartland and the Emma Goldman Clinic have 200 patients scheduled for abortion services this week and next week, according to the lawsuit.

The new law would prevent them from providing abortions "to most of those patients."

Lawsuit: Six-week limit would be prohibitive for most patients

The abortion providers say that cardiac activity can begin as early as six weeks of gestation, which is measured as six weeks from the first day of the last menstrual period.

That means some people may not know they are pregnant until it's already too late for them to access an abortion in Iowa.

The lawsuit notes that "even a person with highly regular menstrual cycles … who learns that they are pregnant at the earliest possible instance" would have about two weeks to decide whether to get an abortion, make an appointment, comply with Iowa's 24-hour waiting period and receive the procedure.

Planned Parenthood and the Emma Goldman Clinic provided statistics that show around nine in 10 abortions were performed after the six-week mark.

"Although most abortion patients get an abortion as soon as they are able, nearly 92% of the abortions (Planned Parenthood of the Heartland) provided in Iowa during the first half of 2023 — and 99% of the ones (Emma Goldman Clinic) provided between October 2022 and May 2023 — took place after six weeks (measured from the last menstrual period)," the lawsuit reads.

Courts already struck down a 'fetal heartbeat' law. Why is this happening again?

Reynolds signed a nearly identical law in 2018, and Planned Parenthood of the Heartland and the ACLU of Iowa challenged it in court.

Polk County District Judge Michael Huppert ruled in 2019 that the law violated the Iowa Constitution, striking it down permanently. He cited a 2018 Iowa Supreme Court decision that declared women had a "fundamental right" to abortion under the state constitution.

The state did not appeal Huppert's ruling, and the law was permanently blocked.

However, the legal landscape shifted last year: The Iowa Supreme Court in 2022 overturned its 2018 decision, finding instead that Iowa women do not have a fundamental right to abortion, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the Dobbs case removed a federal "undue burden" standard.

Reynolds asked Iowa courts to reconsider the 2018 law.

Polk County District Judge Celene Gogerty ruled in December that the law would remain blocked. She cited previous Iowa Supreme Court decisions that relied on the "undue burden" standard — an intermediate level of scrutiny focusing on whether a law excessively limits a woman's ability to obtain an abortion.

She also questioned whether a district court had the authority to overturn a years-long injunction.

The state appealed Gogerty's decision to the high court. But the Iowa Supreme Court deadlocked 3-3 last month.

In opinions that hold no legal weight, three of the justices argued that it would be "unprecedented" to undo the permanent injunction. They also said Iowa upholds the undue burden standard, and therefore the law may not stand.

"We indeed left the undue burden standard in place, and all parties agree the fetal heartbeat bill is unconstitutional under that standard," Justice Thomas Waterman wrote.

The other three high court justices disagreed, writing that Iowa was actually reliant on the federal undue burden standard, which is now defunct. They argued Iowa should now apply the most permissive legal standard, "rational basis," when considering abortion laws.

With the 2018 law still blocked and the Iowa Supreme Court unable to come to a consensus, Reynolds called lawmakers back to Des Moines to start the process over.

William Morris contributed reporting.

Katie Akin is a politics reporter for the Register. Reach her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @katie_akin.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: ACLU, abortion providers sue to stop Iowa 'fetal heartbeat' ban