The Iowa Supreme Court struck down a 72-hour waiting period for abortions that had been part of the fetal heartbeat bill.

Planned Parenthood of the Heartland and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuitagainst Gov. Kim Reynolds and the Iowa Board of Medicine after the Legislature passed the bill, which primarily prohibits women from obtaining abortions if a fetal heartbeat could be detected — approximately six weeks into the pregnancy.

The court determined that the 72-hour waiting period was a violation of the right to equal protection and due process under the Iowa Constitution.

The intention of the mandatory waiting period was to allow women time to consider other options, court documents said.

“The imposition of a waiting period may have seemed like a sound means to accomplish the state’s purpose of promoting potential life, but as demonstrated by the evidence, the purpose is not advanced,” the court’s opinion said. “Instead, an objective review of the evidence shows that women do not change their decision to have an abortion due to a waiting period.”

RELATED: Fetal-heartbeat bill heads to Reynolds’ desk — what happens next?

— Katelyn Weisbrod