Iowa Supreme Court Rejects Temporary Injunction of Six-Week Abortion Ban
- July 12, 2024
A divided Iowa Supreme Court dissolved June 28 a temporary injunction that blocked implementation of a state law that prohibits abortion after fetal cardiac activity is detectable, usually around six weeks gestation, finding the trial court used the wrong standard of review.
In the 4-3 ruling, the high court majority held rational basis review applied to the due process challenge of the law, which was enacted in July 2023 after Governor Kim Reynolds called a one-day special session to revive a nearly identical abortion ban that was subject to a permanent injunction entered in 2019.
The law includes exceptions for medical emergencies; in cases of rape or incest if reported to law enforcement within certain time frames; incomplete abortions, and fetal abnormalities that are “incompatible with life.”
An Iowa trial court granted a temporary injunction to plaintiffs Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, the ACLU of Iowa, and the Emma Goldman Clinic in their challenge to the law, holding the abortion ban failed the “undue burden” test. Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, Inc. v. Reynolds, No. EQCE089066 (Iowa Dist. Ct. July 17, 2023).
But the high court majority disagreed, citing its previous decision in Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, Inc. v. Reynolds ex rel. State (PPH 2022), 975 N.W.2d 710, 740 (Iowa 2022), as holding that abortion is not a fundamental right under the Iowa Constitution.
“Employing that test here, we conclude that the fetal heartbeat statute is rationally related to the state’s legitimate interest in protecting unborn life,” the high court said. It reversed the temporary injunction and remanded for further proceedings.
A dissenting opinion argued that the majority’s decision “strips Iowa women of their bodily autonomy by holding that there is no fundamental right to terminate a pregnancy under our state constitution.”
Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, Inc. v. Reynolds, No. 23–1145 (Iowa June 28, 2024).