Case against Iowa abortion ban dropped, IA Supreme Court makes success unlikely

Because of an Iowa Supreme Court ruling from June, it’s unlikely the case against Iowa’s near-total abortion ban would succeed.

The lawsuit challenging the near-total abortion ban in Iowa has been dropped.

Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, Inc., the Emma Goldman Clinic based in Iowa City, and Dr. Sarah Traxler, the chief medical office for Planned Parenthood North Central States, were jointly suing Iowa over the abortion ban being unconstitutional.

But on Thursday last week, they moved for the Polk County District Court to dismiss the case.

“Iowa’s abortion ban has already caused chaos and devastation, yet the heartbreaking reality is that continuing this case at this moment would not improve or expand access to care,” said Ruth Richardson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States.

Why the lawsuit was dropped

The Iowa Supreme Court in June ruled that abortion bans should be judged based on whether Iowa has a “legitimate state interest” in banning abortion and if the ban is “rationally related” to that interest.

The decision means legal challenges to the abortion ban likely won’t be successful, especially when a majority of the court repeated their view that abortion is not a fundamental right in Iowa’s Constitution.

Four of Iowa’s seven Supreme Court justices decided the ban meets those requirements, and removed the block that kept the state from enforcing the ban. Those justices are David May, Dana Oxley, Matthew McDermott, and Christopher McDonald.

Voters will get to decide in November whether one of those four, May, should continue serving on the court.

The majority also ruled the challengers were unlikely to succeed in showing the ban violates Iowans’ due process rights. That means, in a case, courts would not balance the state’s interest against the interests of Iowans whose bodily autonomy is under attack.

In her release, Richardson said Planned Parenthood will provide abortion care within the restrictions while also working to help “those who are now forced to travel across state lines access the care and resources they need to have control over their bodies, lives, and futures.”

The Iowa Abortion Access Fund, in partnership with the Chicago Abortion Fund, is also taking phone calls and is ready to help people who need help traveling out of state. You can donate to them on their website.

Polling shows 61% of Iowans think abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

What the abortion ban means for Iowans

The abortion ban in Iowa has been active since July 29. It bans abortion when electrical pulses can be detected in an embryo. (This is falsely called a “fetal heartbeat” by anti-abortion groups.) That can happen as early as six weeks, before people know they’re pregnant.

In Iowa’s ban, there are exceptions for rape and incest, but both crimes have to be reported before a patient can use them as an exception.

There are also some exceptions for fatal fetal abnormalities and the life of the mother, but there is no guidance for how doctors should navigate those situations.

Iowa doctors have said the exceptions won’t help Iowans.

In other states, patients have rarely been able to use the exceptions in abortion bans. In those rare instances, care is often delayed to the point that patients are in serious medical conditions. Many women have needed emergency surgeries.

Though rape and incest don’t have to be reported to law enforcement under Iowa’s law, doctors are required to interrogate patients about their attacks if those patients ask for the exception.

Most cases of rape and incest aren’t reported.