Abortion remains legal in Iowa as Supreme Court deadlocks. What to know:

Abortion remains legal in Iowa after the Iowa Supreme Court on Friday deadlocked on whether to reinstate a 2018 law that would have banned most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

Friday's decision — or lack thereof — comes almost exactly one year after the Iowa Supreme Court declared Iowa's constitution does not protect a fundamental right to an abortion. Days later, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that legalized abortion nationally.

In the wake of those decisions, Gov. Kim Reynolds had asked the courts to reconsider the so-called fetal heartbeat law, which would have banned most abortions after the first cardiac impulses were detected in an embryo. A district court had blocked the 2018 law before it ever took effect.

Friday's Supreme Court opinions were split, with three justices arguing that lifting the injunction would be unprecedented and that it should remain in place, and three arguing the injunction should be lifted so that the law could go into effect. The would-be tie-breaker, Justice Dana Oxley, recused herself. Her former law firm represents one of the parties in the case.

Because the justices were evenly divided, the district judge's order was affirmed, meaning the law will remain permanently blocked.

Here's what you need to know about abortion laws in Iowa.

What did the Iowa Supreme Court say about abortion?

The Iowa Supreme Court was evenly divided on the case.

Each side issued scathing opinions: Justice Thomas Waterman wrote that allowing the law to take effect would be "legislating from the bench," while Justice Christopher McDonald, in the opposing opinion, said his colleagues had acted as "a three-person super general assembly" by saying the law should remain blocked.

Without a majority opinion, a district court's decision blocking the law remains in effect.

What are Iowa's current abortion laws?

Friday's ruling does not change abortion laws in Iowa.

Under current Iowa law, abortion is prohibited after 20 weeks of pregnancy, measured as 22 weeks after the mother's last menstrual period.

Individuals seeking an abortion in Iowa must have an initial appointment with the provider, then wait at least 24 hours before undergoing the procedure.

What happens next for Iowa's abortion laws?

The Iowa Republicans who control the Legislature have been vocal opponents of abortion, and they will likely pass new laws restricting the procedure.

House Speaker Pat Grassley said in a Friday statement that the 2018 law was "a good piece of legislation that would save the innocent lives of unborn children."

"Going forward we will work together to pass legislation that will protect life, support new mothers, and promote strong families in Iowa," Grassley said.

Republican majorities in the House and Senate did not take action on abortion in the 2023 session. Leaders said they were waiting for the Supreme Court's decision before introducing any new abortion laws.

The next legislative session will begin in January. As governor, Reynolds has the power to call lawmakers back to Des Moines sooner for a special session. She did not immediately say whether she intends to do so.

"There is no right more sacred than life, and nothing more worthy of our strongest defense than the innocent unborn," Reynolds said in a statement Friday. "We are reviewing our options in preparation for continuing the fight.”

What is the legal standard for Iowa abortion laws?

Any new laws on abortion will likely face a fresh legal challenge.

Courts in the U.S. must decide whether laws wrongfully restrict an individual's liberty or impose justifiable limits. But the Supreme Court's decision provides little clarity about what legal standard will be applied in future abortion-related cases.

Waterman argued that what is known as the "undue burden" test should apply, citing a 2015 Iowa Supreme Court ruling, which has never been overturned, that had overturned a law prohibiting telemedicine abortions.

Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute says undue burden refers to a "state restriction on abortion (that) has placed a substantial obstacle on a someone seeking an abortion of a non-viable fetus." That standard would make it difficult for Iowa to restrict abortion before about six months of pregnancy, when a fetus can survive outside of the uterus.

As Waterman noted, all parties agree the six-week ban is unconstitutional under the undue burden standard.

However, McDonald argued that the 2015 decision did not in and of itself set an undue burden standard in Iowa, but relied on a U.S. Supreme Court decision that has since been overturned.

"How can a case that specifically declined to find a right to terminate a pregnancy under the Iowa Constitution now serve as the legal basis for finding a law unconstitutional?" he wrote.

Courts will need to consider these questions the next time an Iowa abortion law is challenged.

Will Iowa ban abortions?

Republican leaders have repeatedly said they intend to restrict abortion in Iowa, but their specific goals for future abortion laws are unclear.

In addition to the six-week abortion ban, Republican majorities in Iowa have previously passed legislation to require a three-day waiting period, but courts blocked both laws from taking effect.

Twenty House Republicans introduced a bill this year to establish that life begins at conception and ban all abortions in Iowa. Legislative leaders did not advance that measure.

How many abortions take place in Iowa each year?

There were 3,761 abortions in Iowa in 2021, the most recent year of available data.

The Iowa Department of Public Health's vital statistics report shows the majority of abortions took place within the first 13 weeks of pregnancy. Only 198 Iowa abortions occurred after 14 weeks of pregnancy.

The number of abortions fell from 4,058 in 2020.

Ruth Richardson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States, said Planned Parenthood clinics in Iowa have seen a 13% decrease in abortions since the overturn of Roe v. Wade. She attributed the decrease to staffing shortages and a state-mandated 24-hour waiting period that went into effect last year.

Abortions in recent years have been less frequent than they were in the mid-2000s, when Iowa pregnancy terminations numbered more than 6,000 per year.

What do Iowans think about abortion?

A majority of Iowans support legal abortions in most or all cases, according to a March Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll.

Sixty-one percent of Iowa adults said abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 35% said the procedure should be illegal in most or all cases.

More than two-thirds of Iowa women, 70%, said abortion should be legal in most or all cases. Democrats also were broadly in favor, with 87% favoring legal abortion.

William Morris and Stephen Gruber-Miller contributed reporting.

Katie Akin is a politics reporter for the Register. Reach her at kakin@registermedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @katie_akin.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: What to know about the Iowa Supreme Court opinion on abortion laws