Hunter
06/17/22
The Iowa Supreme Court has overruled a 2018 decision that protected abortion under the state constitution.
The Press-Citizen reports that in a fractured decision that reverses a lower court’s decision to block a 24-hour waiting period before an abortion, the court said the previous ruling that established a constitutional right to an abortion “insufficiently recognizes that future human lives are at stake.
The ruling means that a case challenging the 2020 law that put a 24-hour waiting period for an abortion will be sent back to a lower court.
In the majority opinion written by Justice Edward Mansfield, he said that although the Court overruled the 2018 decision rejecting the belief that the Iowa Constitution gives women a fundamental right to an abortion, the ruling doesn’t decide what constitutional standard should replace it.
In a release from Governor Kim Reynolds’ office, she said, “Today’s ruling is a significant victory in our fight to protect the unborn. The Iowa Supreme Court reversed its earlier 2018 decision, which made Iowa the most abortion-friendly state in the country. Every life is sacred and should be protected, and as long as I’m governor that is exactly what I will do.”
The court is now composed almost entirely of Republican appointees, four of which appointed by Reynolds.