Iowa top court rejects right to abortion
STORY: The Supreme Court of Iowa on Friday ruled that the state's constitution does not include a "fundamental right" to abortion.
The 5-2 ruling reverses its own finding from four years ago… and revives a law requiring women to wait 24 hours after an initial appointment before getting an abortion.
A Planned Parenthood affiliate said the group was "deeply disappointed" by the ruling, but also noted the ruling still leaves room to challenge the 24-hour waiting period in the lower court on the grounds that it imposes an "undue burden" on women seeking abortion.
"Definitely have a long road ahead of us, a long fight ahead of us.”
Sheena Dooley works for Planned Parenthood North Central States:
“… we have been taking steps to kind of prepare for everything that's going on in the abortion landscape within our five-state affiliate. And one of those things, for instance, are patient navigators. So people can contact us and we can help them navigate and find the closest place to get the care that they need when that situation happens."
The Iowa ruling comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to soon issue a major ruling that could dramatically curtail abortion rights at the national level.
Since the leak of a draft opinion indicating the top court is set to overturn Roe v. Wade, eight-foot tall fencing has been erected around the building… which remains in the form of lockdown.
Unlike other government buildings in Washington, D.C., no members of the public have been allowed into the U.S. Supreme Court since March of 2020.
For abortion-rights protester Guido Reichstadter – who spent a night in jail after for locking himself to the fence in early June – the fencing is a sign of how out of touch the conservative justices are with public sentiment.
