In a significant pro-life victory, Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, ACLU of Iowa, and the Emma Goldman Clinic have decided against continuing their legal fight against the state’s strict abortion law, which the Iowa Supreme Court recently upheld. The ruling confirmed that there is no constitutional right to abortion in the state. This decision allows the enforcement of Iowa’s fetal heartbeat law, which protects most unborn children after detecting fetal heart activity, around six weeks into the pregnancy.
The Iowa Supreme Court held on June 28, 2024, that the state only needs to show a “rational basis” for laws restricting abortion, a much lesser requirement for legislators looking to limit or eradicate access to abortions. Following the court’s decision, Governor Kim Reynolds, a staunch advocate of such law since 2018, deemed it a “victory for life.”
Justice Matthew McDermott, authoring the majority decision, maintained that abortion is not a fundamental right under the Iowa Constitution. He asserted that the fetal heartbeat statute logically relates to the state’s legitimate interest in protecting unborn life.