Kim Reynolds seeks to revive Iowa's 6-week 'heartbeat' abortion ban after Roe v. Wade overturn

Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds will ask a district court to reinstate Iowa's "fetal heartbeat" law in her first action to limit abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated the constitutional right to the procedure.

Reynolds, a Republican and staunch abortion opponent, signed the so-called heartbeat law in 2018, but it never took effect and was ruled unconstitutional in 2019.

At the time, it would have been the most restrictive abortion law in the country, banning the procedure after about six weeks of pregnancy.

She called Tuesday for the district court to lift the injunction on the law, allowing it to take effect. She also asked the state Supreme Court to reconsider a separate abortion case involving a 24-hour waiting period that it decided less than two weeks ago.

“Now is the time for us to stand up and continue the fight to protect the unborn,” Reynolds said in a statement. “The Supreme Court’s historic decision reaffirms that states have the right to protect the innocent and defenseless unborn — and now it’s time for our state to do just that. As governor, I will do whatever it takes to defend the most important freedom there is: the right to life.”

The legal landscape for regulating abortions in Iowa has shifted dramatically this month, creating uncertainty about when and how Iowans might be able to access the procedure.

For now, certain abortions are still legal. But Reynolds' announcement Tuesday is the first clear indication she's given about how Iowa Republicans, who control the state Legislature, will move to further restrict abortions in the state following key court rulings.

On June 17, the Iowa Supreme Court overturned a 2018 ruling finding the Iowa Constitution protected abortion as a fundamental right. And, last week, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned its own prior decisions that legalized abortion nationwide and provided a framework for regulating it.

Taken together, those decisions give Iowa lawmakers much more leeway to restrict abortion. Under current law, abortions in Iowa are banned after 20 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions only to save the life of the mother.

More:Iowa Supreme Court says fundamental right to abortion not guaranteed under state constitution

Leaders of the state's Republican trifecta had praised the pair of court decisions over the past few weeks but provided few details about how they would move forward. 

Both Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, R-Ankeny, and House Speaker Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford, issued statements Tuesday in support of Reynolds' announcement. 

“For far too long, flawed court rulings at the state and federal levels have blocked many of our attempts to listen to Iowans and expand pro-life protections,” Grassley said in a statement. “Iowa House Republicans’ goal is to protect the lives of the unborn. That’s why I support the governor’s decision on these legal actions as the best path forward to protect innocent life.”

Democrats were immediately critical. 

"Iowa Republicans will not stop until they have completely banned abortion without exception," Senate Democratic Leader Zach Wahls, D-Coralville, tweeted in response. "This is an incredibly dangerous action that threatens the health, safety and future of Iowa women."

Reynolds has not called the Iowa Legislature back to the Capitol for a special legislative session to pass new laws restricting abortion.

Attorney general, a Democrat, won't represent state

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, a Democrat, said Tuesday that he will not represent the state in either matter.

Reynolds will instead be represented by the conservative group Alliance Defending Freedom and by Iowa attorney Alan Ostergren, president and chief counsel of the Kirkwood Institute. The representation will come at no cost to the state, the release said.

Miller had previously declined to represent the state in the 2018 fetal heartbeat case based on his "core belief" — a first for his then 35-year career. He said in a statement Tuesday he does "not take lightly" his responsibility to represent the state.

"In that case, I stated that I could not zealously assert the state's position because of my core belief that the statute, if upheld, would undermine rights and protections for women," he said.

Reynolds' actions to restrict abortion come about four months before voters will decide whether to elect her to a second full term in office. Her Democratic opponent, Deidre DeJear, said Tuesday in a statement that Iowa leadership should be focused on other issues, like education, housing and workforce shortages, rather than pursuing abortion restrictions.

“Imagine if the governor had this much tenacity to fight for our public education system," she said. "This announcement only confirms what we already know to be true: Reynolds is determined to stand against the will of the vast majority of Iowans to ensure the personal rights and bodily autonomy of all in our state."

More:How are Iowa abortion laws affected by the U.S. Supreme Court's overturn of Roe v. Wade?

What would Iowa's 'fetal heartbeat' law do to restrict abortion?

The 2018 law, which Reynolds is seeking to revive, would require doctors to conduct an abdominal ultrasound to test for a fetal heartbeat on anyone seeking an abortion. If a heartbeat is detected, the abortion could not be performed. Fetal cardiac activity can be detected about six weeks into a pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant.

The law contains exceptions for rape and incest, if the crimes are reported to law enforcement within a certain timeframe. It also contains exceptions if the life of the mother is in danger; if "not all the products of conception are expelled" following a spontaneous miscarriage; and if the doctor certifies that the fetus has an abnormality that is incompatible with life.

From 2018: What are the exceptions to Iowa's 'fetal heartbeat' law? 

At the time, many Iowa Republican lawmakers said they believed the time was right to pass legislation that could advance to the U.S. Supreme Court and pose a challenge to Roe v. Wade. 

“In 2018 the heartbeat bill created significant momentum across the country for conservative states to initiate legislation to protect the unborn," Whitver said in a statement Tuesday. "One of those state laws led to the historic ... decision by the U.S. Supreme Court last week, opening the path for the 2018 law to be implemented in Iowa. I support the decision to put these laws back in front of the court to protect life in Iowa.”

But the law was put on hold due to a legal challenge by Planned Parenthood of the Heartland and the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa. Polk County District Court Judge Michael Huppert ruled in January 2019 the law was unconstitutional, citing the Iowa Supreme Court's 2018 ruling that "a woman's right to decide whether to terminate a pregnancy is a fundamental right under the Iowa Constitution."

Derek Muller, a law professor at the University of Iowa, said participants in lawsuits can ask a court to revisit an injunction if the law has changed. And the Iowa Supreme Court's decision to overturn its 2018 precedent means the legal landscape is different now than it was when the district court blocked the law.

"They can now come back and say, 'Hey, you should reconsider this because the Iowa Supreme Court has said that the law that you based this decision on is no good anymore,'" he said.

House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst said during a taping of the Iowa PBS program “Iowa Press” on Tuesday that the speed of the announcement seemed hasty, considering the U.S. Supreme Court had released its ruling less than a week earlier. She also pointed to a 2021 Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll that found 57% of Iowans say abortion should be legal in most or all cases. 

“I think it’s pretty frustrating for a lot of Iowans who are seeing games being played with a pretty serious issue, an issue that just changed in seismic ways a few days ago,” she said. “Let’s take some time here. Let’s make sure what we’re doing is in the best interest of all Iowans, not politics.”

The six-week cutoff would come before many people know they are pregnant, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa Communications Manager Sheena Dooley said in a news release.

“Regardless of our personal beliefs, we can all agree that Iowans deserve the right to control their bodies and futures — even though the courts have said politicians should be charged with those decisions," Dooley said. "Gov. Reynolds wants to take us back decades in time by forcing pregnancy on Iowans, a grave violation of their human rights. "

Reynolds also seeks rehearing on 24-hour waiting period

In addition to asking the court to reinstate the six-week ban, Reynolds is also asking the Iowa Supreme Court to reconsider its June 17 ruling on a lawsuit challenging the state’s 24-hour waiting period to receive an abortion. 

That law, which Reynolds signed in 2020, was also challenged in court and never took effect.

In that case, the Iowa Supreme Court overturned its prior precedent that had recognized a "fundamental right" to abortion under the Iowa Constitution, but it left unclear what legal standard should apply in cases governing abortion. In its ruling, the court noted that the U.S. Supreme Court might "provide insights that we are currently lacking.”

In a statement, Reynolds said the U.S. Supreme Court "provided those insights" when it ruled last week to overturn Roe v. Wade and should now redecide the case "with the wisdom of that ruling." 

Reynolds said in her statement that she hopes to see the court establish on rehearing that abortion laws should be evaluated under a more permissive legal standard than it has under prior precedent.

Muller said it's rare for courts to grant a rehearing of a case they've just decided, but he said the Iowa Supreme Court left the door open to doing so by recognizing that the pending federal decision could change things.

"In this case, the court sort of floats out there, 'Well, maybe things will change if the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs comes out,'" he said. "And sure enough within that 14-day window the Dobbs decision comes out."

Muller said questions about what the new legal standard for abortion restrictions should be in Iowa are a potential reason why Reynolds hasn't yet called a special legislative session. He said it's still uncertain how far lawmakers could go to limit abortion without an answer to what the standard should be.

"They could always, of course, like other states have done pass laws that are going to be struck down, but that’s not really what they really want right now," he said. "They want the judiciary to address some of these other questions."

The Des Moines Register's William Morris contributed to this report.

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

Ian Richardson covers the Iowa Statehouse for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at irichardson@registermedia.com, at 515-284-8254, or on Twitter at @DMRIanR.

Brianne Pfannenstiel is the chief politics reporter for the Register. Reach her at bpfann@dmreg.com or 515-284-8244. Follow her on Twitter at @brianneDMR.