{"id":373319,"date":"2016-03-31T21:35:17","date_gmt":"2016-04-01T02:35:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-law\/state\/iowa-law\/iowa-abortion-laws.html"},"modified":"2024-09-16T16:07:33","modified_gmt":"2024-09-16T21:07:33","slug":"iowa-abortion-laws","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/state\/iowa-law\/iowa-abortion-laws.html","title":{"rendered":"Iowa Abortion Laws"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n \n
\n

Iowa Abortion Laws<\/h1>\n
\n
\n By John Mascolo, Esq.<\/a> | Legally reviewed by John Mascolo, Esq.<\/a>\n | Last updated\n
\n \n <\/i>\n Legally Reviewed\n <\/summary>\n\n
\n

This article has been written and reviewed for legal accuracy, clarity, and style by FindLaw\u2019s team of legal writers and attorneys<\/a> and in accordance with our editorial standards<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/details>\n\n

\n \n <\/i>\n Fact-Checked\n <\/summary>\n\n
\n

The last updated date refers to the last time this article was reviewed by FindLaw or one of our contributing authors<\/a>. We make every effort to keep our articles updated. For information regarding a specific legal issue affecting you, please contact an attorney in your area<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/details>\n<\/section>\n

Abortion is legal in Iowa until medical professionals can detect a fetal heartbeat, which typically happens at a fetal gestational age of six weeks. After that, abortion is legal only in limited cases. These include medical emergencies, cases of rape or incest reported within specific time frames, and certain cases of a fetal abnormality incompatible with life.<\/p>\r\n

Iowa Abortion Law After <\/b>Dobbs<\/i><\/h2>\r\n

Since the U.S. Supreme Court decided Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization<\/i><\/a> in 2022, states are free to construct their abortion laws<\/a> in different ways. They can regulate or limit access to abortion and require waiting periods, notice, and consent for the procedure. They can even prohibit abortion entirely.<\/p>\r\n

The Dobbs<\/i> decision overturned the 1973 Supreme Court holding in Roe v. Wade<\/i> that recognized a woman’s constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy. The 6-3 court majority in Dobbs<\/i> concluded that Roe<\/i> was wrongly decided. It upended decades of case precedent and reliance upon the right to abortion.<\/p>\r\n

Iowa lawmakers enacted several abortion restrictions and amended them over the years. Many of these laws remain on the books.<\/p>\r\n

On July 14, 2023, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law a six-week abortion ban known as the Iowa fetal heartbeat law. The law came about during a special session that Reynolds called. It passed with only Republican support in the Iowa legislature.<\/p>\r\n

Within days, the law faced a legal challenge from the ACLU of Iowa, Planned Parenthood North Central States, and the Emma Goldman Clinic. A lower court judge blocked the new law based on claims that the Iowa Constitution still protected the right to abortion.<\/p>\r\n

In June 2024, the Iowa Supreme Court reversed its prior ruling and found that the state constitution does not protect abortion as a fundamental right. It directed the district court judge to remove the injunction. As a result, the six-week abortion ban<\/a> took effect on July 29, 2024.<\/p>\r\n

The Iowa Fetal Heartbeat Law<\/h2>\r\n

Iowa first passed a fetal heartbeat abortion ban in 2018. At that time, Roe<\/i> was still the law of the land and protected access to abortion until fetal viability. The law did not survive a legal challenge. The state supreme court found that it placed an undue burden on the right to abortion. By 2022, Iowa abortion law allowed a legal abortion up to 20 weeks of a pregnancy.<\/p>\r\n

In 2023, after the Dobbs<\/i> decision, Reynolds convened a special legislature session to pass a new fetal heartbeat law. Although the law was also challenged, the courts upheld it. As a result, Iowans’ access to abortion care was greatly reduced.<\/p>\r\n

Under Iowa’s fetal heartbeat law, abortion means the "termination of a human pregnancy with the intent other than to produce a live birth or to remove a dead fetus." The law requires a treating physician to test a pregnant patient to determine if they can detect a fetal heartbeat. If so, the physician must inform the patient of the finding and notify them that an abortion will be illegal.<\/p>\r\n

The law defines a fetal heartbeat as "cardiac activity, the steady and repetitive rhythmic contraction of the fetal heart within the gestational sac." Yet many question the identification of this cardiac activity as a heartbeat. Around six weeks of pregnancy, doctors may detect an electrical pulse from the embryo. In time, this will develop as part of the fetal heart.<\/p>\r\n

The new law’s definition is controversial as experts say the structure of a fetal heart<\/a> does not form until 10 weeks into a pregnancy. To those who support these laws, the cardiac activity is a heartbeat. To those who oppose these laws and many medical experts, there is no fetal heart at six weeks. Of course, many people don’t know they are pregnant at the six-week mark.<\/p>\r\n

Iowa law does allow exceptions to the abortion ban in limited circumstances. These include:<\/p>\r\n