Gov. Reynolds Issues Statement in Response to Court Filing on Fetal Heartbeat Law

Iowa’s attorney general says the state’s Supreme Court has agreed to hear legal arguments over Iowa’s so-called “fetal heartbeat” law.
In July, Governor Reynolds signed a bill that bans most abortions after fetal activity can be detected, which is around the sixth week of a pregnancy. Abortion providers and the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa sued and a district court judge temporarily blocked the law from taking effect. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird filed an appeal to the state’s highest court on Wednesday. Governor Reynolds says it’s time for the Iowa Supreme Court to uphold the law once and for all

Reynolds signed similar legislation in 2018, but the Iowa Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that the law was unconstitutional. The make-up of the state supreme court has changed dramatically since then. Reynolds has appointed five of the court’s seven justices. After the U. S. Supreme Court’s ruling that overturned Roe v Wade, Reynolds asked the Iowa Supreme Court to let that 2018 law go into effect, but the Iowa court, in a tie vote, kept an injunction in place preventing the six-week abortion ban from going into effect.

State Senator Sarah Trone Garriott, part of the leadership team for Democrats in the Iowa Senate, says the governor and attorney general are extreme, anti-choice politicians who are once again showing they are out of touch with the majority of Iowans.

Gov. Reynolds released the following statement in response to a brief filed today with the Iowa Supreme Court seeking to uphold the Fetal Heartbeat Law:

“The people of Iowa and their elected representatives have spoken clearly and by a wider margin than before: it’s time for the Fetal Heartbeat Law to be upheld once and for all. The injunction placed on Iowa’s Fetal Heartbeat Law has already led to the innocent deaths of children. It needs to end. Every life is valuable and worth our state’s protection – no matter what stage of life they are in.”