Deadlocked Iowa Supreme Court allows abortion to be legal for 20 weeks
The news
A legal attempt to ban abortion in Iowa after six weeks of pregnancy failed Friday afterward the state Supreme Court deadlocked on whether the order of a lower court should be lifted and the injunction should take effect. That means abortion remains legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks gestation.
Why it matters
As state after state banned or sharply restricted access to abortion after Roe v. Wade was overturned, Iowa’s status as a place where abortion remained accessible was at stake.
The Iowa ban “was dangerous, cruel and unconstitutional when the district court blocked it four years ago, and it remains dangerous, cruel and unconstitutional today,” said Rita Bettis Austen, legal director of ACLU of Iowa, an advocacy group for civil liberties. “Many Iowans depended on the outcome of the case today and we celebrate preserving our freedom, health and safety.”
Chris Schandevel, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, who represented Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds in the case, said, “Iowans will certainly be disappointed by today’s result, and rightly so.” He added: “It is time for the legislature to act – again – to protect life.”
Background
The case revolved around a law signed into law in 2018 by Mrs. Reynolds, a Republican, four years before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the state’s abortion law codified in the Roe v. Wade decision.
Iowa’s 2018 law was blocked by a district judge, who cited an Iowa Supreme Court decision that held that the state constitution provided a fundamental right to abortion — a decision that was later reversed.
In light of that and Roe’s end, Ms. Reynolds asked the district court to overturn her standing order against enforcement of the 2018 law. But the district court said no, clearing the way for the Iowa Supreme Court to hear the case.
The superior court, whose members are all Republican appointeeswas tied 3-3 on Friday, leaving the lower court’s order in effect.
In a sharply formulated opinionthe three justices opposing the lifting of the injunction called the state’s request “a bad vehicle” to override the district court and wrote, “Nothing like this has come up before in Iowa legal history or likely to occur again.”