ACLU says no precedent for reviving abortion law
Good morning.
Yesterday, West Virginia lawmakers approved a near-total abortion ban. It's a huge step away from the state's current law allowing abortions until 20 weeks of pregnancy.
At first blush, it seems like Iowa would be on a similar path.
Yet despite two landmark court decisions that cleared the way for abortion restrictions, and despite a Republican trifecta in office, Iowa hasn't seen the swift changes to abortion law that states like West Virginia have.
Instead, Iowa's battle is in the courts. You may remember when Gov. Kim Reynolds asked the court in July to reinstate a so-called fetal heartbeat ban, passed in 2018. That law would forbid abortions after fetal cardiac activity is detected — something that can happen as early as six weeks in.
This is reporter Katie Akin, still on the abortion beat. We saw a little movement in that case yesterday, as the American Civil Liberties Union (on behalf of Planned Parenthood) argued in court documents that there would be no legal precedent for reinstating an already-blocked law.
Rita Bettis Austen, legal director for the ACLU of Iowa, wrote that the Legislature must pass a new law "rather than attempting to revive a law that was clearly unconstitutional and void at the time it was passed by an earlier legislature.”
Our friends at the Associated Press have the full scoop.
We'll be watching closely to see what happens next in the courts. Follow me on Twitter, @katie_akin, for the minute-by-minute updates.
Got questions about abortion and the many ways things might play out in Iowa? Send me an email at kakin@registermedia.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: ACLU says no precedent for reviving abortion law
