Iowa Supreme Court Halts Abortion Waiting Period Law

The Iowa State Supreme Court has issued a temporary halt to a new state law that requires women to wait 72 hours prior to having an abortion.

Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Cady’s decision sends the matter back to a district court.

Planned Parenthood of the Heartland and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Iowa filed the lawsuit after Gov. Terry Branstad signed the bill into law. A Polk County district court judge denied the groups’ request for an emergency injunction to halt enforcement of the law, but an appeal led to Justice David Wiggins’ order for a temporary halt.

The law, passed in the Iowa state Senate after much debate and along party lines, also restricts abortion to the first 20 weeks of pregnancy, although the lawsuit does not address that restriction. No exemptions are provided in the law for rape, incest, or the unborn baby’s potential genetic anomalies. It does allow for abortion past the 20-week point if the mother’s life or health is in danger.

According to the Des Moines Register, Planned Parenthood made the claim that it has yet to receive the materials it is required to distribute to women seeking abortion under the new law – such as risks associated with the procedure and available options for adoption.

The abortion vendor also claims that requiring a waiting period prior to abortion is discriminatory against women.

A spokesman for the Iowa attorney general’s office, however, cited a link to the Iowa Department of Public Health that provides the information and has been available to the public even prior to the law’s approval.

Cady ordered a new district court hearing within 30 days.

“This ruling means that while this case moves through the court, women will continue to have access to the safe, legal abortion care they are constitutionally entitled to receive,” said Dr. Jill Meadows, medical director for Planned Parenthood of the Heartland.

Meadows added:

Just last week, women’s lives were hurled into chaos during the two hours that this law was active. One woman had to return to basic training and feared jeopardizing her military career. One was a high school senior desperate to not become another statistic … Like many women whose circumstances create serious barriers to care — especially rural and low-income women — this disruption created potentially insurmountable obstacles.

While the legislation’s original criminal penalties had been removed through the amendment process, it still allows women to file civil suits against abortionists who perform the procedure illegally. Under the measure, doctors may also be disciplined by the Iowa Board of Medicine for performing illegal abortions.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, 27 states currently require a woman to wait – most of them 24 hours – between abortion counseling and the procedure itself. Iowa is the sixth state to require a three-day waiting period. Nineteen states have passed similar 20-week bans.

“This is another step in the legal process regarding the 72-hour waiting period,” Branstad spokesman Ben Hammes said about the return of the matter to the district court. “The governor and lieutenant governor fully believe this protection will ultimately be upheld as it has in five other states.”