20 GOP lawmakers file bill to ban all Iowa abortions. Why their leaders say it won't pass.

Twenty House Republicans have introduced a bill that would state that life begins at conception and ban all abortions in Iowa.

But legislative leaders say they don't expect to advance the measure this year as they wait on the outcome of a state Supreme Court case.

The effort by rank-and-file Republican lawmakers reflects an eagerness to ban abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year and ended the constitutional right to the procedure. The state Supreme Court also acted last year to overturn a prior decision that protected abortion rights.

But Iowa's legal landscape remains unsettled when it comes to abortion restrictions.

Gov. Kim Reynolds is asking the Iowa Supreme Court to allow a law to take effect that would ban most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy. Top Republicans want to wait for the outcome of that case before they pass any further laws.

Bills in the Iowa Legislature face a legislative "funnel" deadline Friday that requires them to pass through a full committee to remain eligible for consideration this year.

More:'Funnel' week at the Iowa Legislature and its impact on bills explained in 60 seconds

House Speaker Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford, said he doesn't expect the bill to meet that deadline.

"That’s not my expectation, no," he said. "I don’t think it will."

What does the Iowa bill say about when life begins?

Republicans are calling their bill, House File 510, "the Iowa Human Life Protection Act."

If passed, it would effectively make all abortions illegal.

"The life of every human being begins at fertilization when a male sperm fuses with a female egg resulting in a single-celled human called a zygote," the bill states.

The bill says "unborn human beings" are entitled to equal protection under the law.

"Abortion is a murderous act of violence that purposefully and knowingly terminates a human life in the womb," the bill states.

How would the abortion bill be enforced?

Iowa's legislation is modeled on a Texas law, known as SB 8, that was written to be enforced through lawsuits from private individuals, rather than law enforcement or other government officials.

That enforcement mechanism was designed to make the law harder to challenge in court. The U.S. Supreme Court and Texas Supreme Court both allowed the law to stand.

"We modeled it off of a Texas bill and it worked in Texas," said Rep. Luana Stoltenberg, R-Davenport, who is one of the bill's cosponsors.

The law also calls on Iowa's U.S. attorneys to prosecute people and companies who mail abortion pills or receive them in the mail under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO. The law is typically used to prosecute organized crime.

More:How Gov. Kim Reynolds' sprawling health care bill will affect Iowa (and you)

What exceptions does the bill have?

The bill would allow Iowans to file lawsuits against anyone who performs an elective abortion, administers a drug that is intended to cause an elective abortion or aids or abets someone seeking an elective abortion.

It would apply only to abortions that take place within Iowa.

The bill says lawsuits cannot be brought against a pregnant woman who gets an abortion.

It also contains exemptions for in vitro fertility treatments, emergency contraception such as Plan B, intrauterine devices and medical care that is intended to treat miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies, treat a medical emergency or is to "save the life or preserve the health of an unborn child."

Stoltenberg said the bill's sponsors believed it was important to make sure the bill spelled out exceptions for situations such as ectopic pregnancies and miscarriages.

"When a woman needs to have surgery for that, that’s not an abortion," she said. "It’s an ectopic pregnancy that a woman needs surgery for to save her life, or just to help her."

Why do Republican leaders want to wait before passing more abortion restrictions?

Republican leaders have consistently said that before enacting further restrictions on abortion, they want the Iowa Supreme Court to rule on the so-called heartbeat law, which would ban most abortions after about six weeks, when cardiac impulses are first detected in the embryo.

They're hoping the court will use that case, which involves a 2018 Iowa law, to set a legal standard that would make it easier to adopt laws restricting abortion. The 2018 law has remained blocked by the courts.

Grassley said Tuesday that "my position hasn't changed."

"Let’s see what the court decides, and then at that point we’ll obviously work to do something to protect life," he said. "But I don’t see our position changing at this point, based on the court not having taken any action."

Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, said he will recommend to the members of his committee that they not advance the bill this year as they await the court decision.

"I believe absolutely 100% in life at conception," Holt said. "But there are a number of us, and legal experts, who believe we need to wait and see what the Supreme Court decision is on the heartbeat bill."

Even Stoltenberg said she doesn't expect to see the bill pass this year.

"I’m not expecting it to get through funnel," she said.

She said she and other Republicans felt it was important to file the bill anyway, in part because they've heard demands from their constituents to restrict abortion.

"A lot of the constituents are saying, 'You have a majority in the Senate, you have a majority in the House, Roe has been overturned, we have a governor who is pro-life and who’s Republican so we want to see life legislation passed,'" Stoltenberg said.

More: The Iowa Legislature's first 'funnel' week of 2022 is over. Here's how key bills fared.

Why do abortion-rights supporters call the bill 'dangerous'?

More than 60% of Iowans believe abortion should be legal in most or all cases, according to a Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll from October.

The poll found 61% of Iowans said abortion should be legal in most or all cases, while 33% said it should be illegal in most or all cases and 6% were unsure.

Abortion is currently legal in Iowa in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Democrats have been united in opposition to Republican restrictions on abortion and say Iowa should instead add protections for abortion to the Iowa Constitution.

Officials from Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa, the state's largest abortion provider, have been highly critical about proposed abortion restrictions from Republicans.

Mazie Stilwell, Planned Parenthood's director of public affairs, said in a statement Tuesday that decisions about abortion "should be left to a patient and their doctor, not politicians and judges."

“For now, abortion remains safe and legal in Iowa,” Stilwell said. “But this total abortion ban is far-reaching. It is dangerous, and it takes many rights away from Iowans — including the right to an abortion. It even takes away access to medically accurate information about abortion. Iowans deserve better."

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Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Why an Iowa abortion ban likely won't pass the Legislature this year