Iowa set to hold rare special session to pass abortion restrictions this week

Starting Tuesday, the Iowa state legislature will convene in a special session called by Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) to limit the access to abortion and pass a six-week ban.

In 2018, Reynolds attempted to pass the “fetal heartbeat” law, which would have prohibited abortion when the earliest heartbeat activity could be detected. This usually happens about six weeks into a pregnancy, when a lot of women do not even know they are pregnant yet. This law was blocked in 2019 by a district court judge.

After federal abortion rights were stripped away in the Dobbs v. Jackson U.S. Supreme Court case, Reynolds again urged lawmakers to pass a six-week abortion ban last summer. The Republican-controlled legislature did pass another ban, but the state Supreme Court issued a split 3-3 decision last month that made the law void. Currently, abortion remains legal up to 20 weeks into the pregnancy in Iowa.

The bill being debated, Senate File 359, more closely fits the 2018 law, with a six-week ban with limited exceptions. The bill only allows exceptions for the life of the mother and “medically necessary” circumstances, including rape, incest, miscarriages and fetal abnormalities that are incompatible with life.

After trying and failing to ban most abortions in her state, Reynolds is now calling her lawmakers together in the first special session since 2021 to pass legislation that “addresses abortion and protects unborn lives.”

“I believe the pro-life movement is the most important human rights cause of our time,” Reynolds said in a statement last week. “Not only will I continue to fight against the inhumanity of abortion, but I will also remain committed to supporting women in planning for motherhood, promoting fatherhood and parenting, and continuing policies that encourage strong families.”

After the overall lackluster turnout by Republicans in the 2022 midterm elections, which is believed to be at least somewhat due to Republicans’ efforts in overturning Roe v. Wade, Reynolds could be playing with fire by trying very hard to restrict access to abortion. Voters in the nearby Republican-controlled Kansas already upheld abortion rights through a ballot measure last August.

Iowa is set to hold the first elections of 2024 during their GOP caucuses on Jan. 15.