{"id":582393,"date":"2023-07-12T07:29:54","date_gmt":"2023-07-12T04:29:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/iowa-republicans-pass-a-new-6-week-abortion-ban\/"},"modified":"2023-07-12T07:29:54","modified_gmt":"2023-07-12T04:29:54","slug":"iowa-republicans-pass-a-new-6-week-abortion-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/iowa-republicans-pass-a-new-6-week-abortion-ban\/","title":{"rendered":"#Iowa Republicans pass a new 6-week abortion ban"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Iowa Republicans passed a bill late Tuesday to <\/strong>ban most abortions after six weeks \u2014 a restrictive measure that would quickly remake the reproductive rights legal landscape in a key early voting state.<\/p>\n

The measure passed, mostly along party lines, <\/strong>just after 11 p.m. local time, capp<\/a>ing a marathon one-day special legislative session that Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds called for the sole purpose of enacting \u201cpro-life\u201d legislation.<\/p>\n

Reynolds, in a statement issued moments after the bill was passed, said she would sign the bill on Friday.<\/p>\n

“Justice for the unborn should not be delayed,” Reynolds said.<\/p>\n

If it is not blocked by a court, the law would go into effect immedia<\/a>tely after Reynolds signs it \u2014 which could send abortion clinics in the state, as well as women with appointments scheduled at them in coming days and weeks, scrambling. As it currently stands, abortion remains legal in Iowa until the 20th week of pregnancy.<\/p>\n

The bill<\/a> passed by Republicans, who control the Legislature, would ban abortions at the sixth week of pregnancy \u2014 or when, in some cases, a fetal pulse can first be heard via ultrasound. The measure includes exceptions for the life of the woman, miscarriages and fetal abnormalities deemed by a physician “incompatible with life.”<\/p>\n

The bill also includes exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape and from incest. For those exceptions to apply, the rape must have been reported to law enforcement or a \u201cpublic or private health agency\u201d \u2014 which includes a family doctor \u2014 within 45 days, and the incest must have been reported to any of those officials or entities within 140 days.<\/p>\n

<\/source><\/source>\"Protesters<\/picture>
Protesters rally for abortion rights in the Iowa State Capitol rotunda Tuesday.<\/span>Zach Boyden-Holmes \/ Zach Boyden-Holmes\/The Register <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Passage Tuesday <\/strong>was the product of a rapid, <\/strong>15-hour special legislative session that featured hours of impassioned pleas from legislators and members of the public \u2014 in both support of and opposition to the measure.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbortion is normal, safe, lifesaving health care,\u201d Connie Ryan, the executive director of the nonprofit Iowa Interfaith Alliance, said at a session reserved for members of the public to discuss the measure. \u201cIowa is not a theocracy.”<\/p>\n

Democratic legislators and reproductive rights groups held large protests<\/a> in the state Capitol throughout the day, with chants audible during several committee sessions where the bill was discussed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty demoralizing for those of us that take care of women to have the potential of losing the ability to practice full-spectrum care,\u201d said Dr. Amy Bingaman, a Des Moines obstetrician and gynecologist. Bingaman said many doctors like her will be forced to consider leaving the state if they are no longer able to legally administer reproductive health care.<\/p>\n

Abortion-rights protesters were seen clashing at times with Iowans who showed up in support of the ban.<\/p>\n

\u201cLife is precious,\u201d said Vicki Miller, who supported the ban. \u201cThe Bible tells us that \u2026 as soon as that\u00a0child is conceived as a child, it\u2019s alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new ban is certain to affect the 2024 presidential race.<\/p>\n

Because Iowa will be the first state to hold Republican caucuses, GOP candidates already barnstorming the state are certain to be asked for their views on the ban. Republicans have often struggled to talk to voters about abortion rights in the year since the Supreme Court\u2019s Dobbs ruling overturned Roe v. Wade. However, support for stronger abortion restrictions remains popular among conservative evangelical Christians \u2014 a key voting bloc in the state\u2019s Republican caucuses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But polling in the state<\/a>, as well as nationally, finds that a majority of voters support people\u2019s having the right to abortions \u2014 which could make any candidate\u2019s support of a strict abortion ban a political vulnerability among general<\/a> election voters.<\/p>\n

Keeping the issue in plain view in the state will be a summit a prominent Christian conservative group will hold in Des Moines this week. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy are some of the candidates scheduled to attend<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ramaswamy, who went to the Capitol building to support the session, faced hecklers during an interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s an historic occasion,\u201d Ramaswamy said, adding that it was \u201ca celebration of the pro-life position that I share.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Republicans in firm control of both chambers of the Legislature, Democrats lacked the numbers and the tools to delay passage of the bill beyond the late-night period legislators reserved for debate and voting.<\/p>\n

Reproductive rights groups, including Planned Parenthood, suggested they would challenge the measure in court.<\/p>\n

“This is not the end of our fight for safe and legal abortion and reproductive health care,” Ruth Richardson, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States, said in a statement after the bill was passed. “We will exhaust all options to ensure Iowans have control of their bodily autonomy, now and for generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

The latest bill is nearly identical to a six-week ban that remains permanently blocked following an Iowa Supreme Court ruling last month. The split decision<\/a> effectively allowed a lower court\u2019s ruling blocking the law to remain in effect.<\/p>\n

If the new law is enacted after Reynolds signs it, it is likely to face some of the same legal roadblocks \u2014 but the outcome could be different with a full state Supreme Court issuing a decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The state Supreme Court\u2019s split ruling<\/a> was a narrowly tailored decision based largely on procedural grounds, meaning it remains possible \u2014 if not likely \u2014 that a full seven-member court could find legal consensus on a new ban.<\/p>\n

One of the court\u2019s seven justices, Dana Oxley \u2014 a Reynolds appointee \u2014 recused herself because her former law firm represented an abortion clinic that was a plaintiff in the original case.<\/p>\n

The split decision last month featured three justices suggesting they could support a legal standard \u2014 known as \u201crational basis\u201d \u2014 that could allow a six-week abortion limit to stand in the future.<\/p>\n

If Oxley were part of the next decision, a clear, legally binding majority on a six-week ban would most likely result.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n