Iowa's ban on abortions after 6 weeks will go into effect next week

An Iowa law banning most abortions in the state will take effect Monday, roughly one year after Gov. Kim Reynolds signed it.

The law prohibits physicians from administering an abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected — around six weeks into pregnancy, before most women even know they’re pregnant. It briefly took effect in July 2023, but a lower court temporarily blocked the ban just days later in response to a legal challenge brought by abortion providers and the American Civil Liberties Union.

The Iowa Supreme Court reversed that ruling last month, declaring the policy constitutional and clearing the way for it to go into effect.

A district court judge for Polk County said the law can be fully enforced starting July 29 at 8 a.m. CT, to allow time for medical providers to receive notice of the change.

The ACLU of Iowa tried earlier this month to petition the Iowa Supreme Court to rehear the case, but the court denied that request Monday.

Iowa’s new abortion law includes exceptions for rape, incest, fetal abnormalities that are “incompatible with life” and medical emergencies that endanger the life of a pregnant woman.

Previously, Iowa allowed abortions up to 20 weeks, meaning the vast majority of those seeking to terminate a pregnancy were able to do so. The new law puts Iowa among three other states that similarly ban abortion after around six weeks: Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. Fourteen states have full abortion bans, and 22 (including Iowa) have some kind of abortion restriction.

Just two abortion clinics in Iowa offer in-person care: the Emma Goldman Clinic and a Planned Parenthood facility in Ames. Planned Parenthood of the Heartland — which represents its Iowa clinics — and the Emma Goldman Clinic