Iowa leaders want its halted abortion law to go into effect. The state’s high court will rule Friday

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court is expected to weigh in Friday on the state’s temporarily blocked abortion law, which prohibits abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy and before many women know they are pregnant.

With the law on hold, abortion is legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks of pregnancy. On Friday, the justices could uphold or reject a lower court ruling that temporarily blocked enforcement of the law, with or without offering comments on whether the law itself is constitutional. Both supporters of the law and the abortion providers opposed to it were preparing for the various possibilities.

The high court’s highly anticipated ruling will be the latest in an already yearslong legal battle over abortion restrictions in the state that escalated when the Iowa Supreme Court and then the U.S. Supreme Court both overturned decisions establishing a constitutional right to abortion.

Most Republican-led states across the country have limited abortion access since 2022, when Roe v. Wade was overturned. Currently, 14 states have near-total bans at all stages of pregnancy, and three ban abortions at about six weeks.

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