Iowa's 6-Week Abortion Ban Takes Effect as Majority of Residents Believe It Should Be Legal

A 2023 poll suggested that only 35% of Iowans support abortion restrictions

By Charlotte Phillipp
Published on July 29, 2024 03:04PM EDT

Iowans supporting access to abortion rally on Thursday, April 11, 2024, outside the courthouse in Des Moines, Iowa.

 PHOTO: HANNAH FINGERHUT/AP


Iowa's new six-week abortion ban took effect on Monday, July 29, after the state previously allowed abortions up to 20 weeks of pregnancy.


In July 2023, the Iowa Legislature approved a law that would severely limit access to abortions by prohibiting the procedure six weeks after conception — before many people know they are pregnant.


The ban was temporarily blocked while a lawsuit played out, but in June, the Iowa Supreme Court ordered the block to be lifted and scheduled the ban to begin on July 29 at 8 a.m.

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The legislation — called the Heartbeat Bill — makes some exceptions, including in cases of rape, incest, health risks to the mother and fetal abnormality. It's one of numerous abortion bans that have been proposed or gone into effect since the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling, which overturned Roe v. Wade.

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As with many abortion bans around the nation, Iowa's new restrictions are out of step with public sentiment.


A poll published in March 2023 by the Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa and conducted by polling firm Selzer & Co. found that 61% of Iowa adults believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases, with only 35% percent of Iowan adults saying it should be illegal in most or all cases.


Iowan women and people under 35 leaned more heavily toward believing the procedure should be legal in all or most cases, with 70% of women and 73% of under-35s supporting abortion access.

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A Planned Parenthood sign is displayed outside the clinic Thursday, July 18, 2024, in Ames, Iowa.
CHARLIE NEIBERGALL/AP

Many critics of the new ban have also argued that the legislation leaves much to interpretation and is more confusing than necessary.


In Des Moines Register editorial published on Sunday, July 28, the newspaper's editorial board argued that the law's exceptions surrounding rape and incest put doctors in a difficult position when they have to determine if a victim's story is credible, and that health professionals risk discipline if medical governing bodies don't agree with their judgment.

The law also isn't clear about what constitutes a "medical emergency," the editorial board noted, leaving doctors at greater risk of facing punishment.

"Neither the rape timeline nor the demand for sharing exacting detail with strangers comports with what many sexual abuse survivors actually experience," the Register board argued.

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Sarah Traxler, the chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood North Central States and an OB-GYN based in Minnesota, told the Associated Press that many surrounding states, including Minnesota, are now preparing for an influx of patients traveling out-of-state to obtain an abortion.


"The protections of Roe have just been chipped away at slowly through time," she told the outlet. "This transition is devastating and tragic for the people of Iowa."