Iowa lawmakers pass 6-week abortion ban

Pro-choice protesters at the Iowa State Capitol

(Image credit: AP Photo / Hannah Fingerhut)

published 12 July 2023

The Republican-controlled legislature in Iowa passed a bill on Tuesday night that bans most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy.

Gov. Kim Reynolds (R), who called a special session so lawmakers could vote on curtailing abortion rights, will sign the bill into law on Friday, her office said. It passed the House 56-34 and the Senate 32-17, with both votes primarily along party lines.

The bill would ban abortions after cardiac activity is detected in an embryo, which can be as early as six weeks into a pregnancy; the Des Moines Register noted that the legislation is "nearly identical to a law signed by Reynolds in 2018, which was permanently blocked by the courts." Under current Iowa law, abortions are allowed up to 20 weeks after conception or 22 weeks after the last menstrual period.

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Opponents and supporters of the bill gathered at the state capitol on Tuesday, with several having to be removed from the gallery by state troopers, the Register reported. Many chanted against the bill, and yelled "Shame!" after the legislation passed. A Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll conducted in March found that a majority of people in Iowa — 61% — think abortion should be legal in all or most cases, with 35% saying they think it should be illegal in all or most cases.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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