Following a yearslong legal battle, abortion access in Iowa will look drastically different starting Monday with a district court allowing a 2023 abortion law to go into effect Monday at 8 a.m.

Last week an Iowa district court issued an order dissolving the injunction preventing Iowa’s six-week abortion ban from being enacted. The order comes after Iowa abortion providers and the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa asked the Iowa Supreme Court to rehear the case to prevent the law from going into effect. 

The law bans abortions after fetal cardiac activity is detected which can be as soon as six weeks into a pregnancy — often before a woman is aware they are pregnant. The law has some exceptions including an exception for the life of the mother, and rape or incest. 

The law was passed during a special session in July 2023 after a similar 2018 law was blocked by the Iowa Supreme Court. The law was blocked in June 2023 after the court failed to come to a majority decision on the case. 

Iowa Abortion providers continue to provide services, connect resources 

Iowa abortion providers are looking to continue to provide services for patients after the law went into effect Monday. 

Planned Parenthood and the Emma Goldman Clinic in Iowa City are the state’s main abortion care providers and both plan to continue to offer reproductive health care services and abortion care services as provided under the law. 

Over the last week Alex Sharp, the Senior Health Center Manager for Iowa who runs the Ames and Des Moines Planned Parenthood medical centers, has worked with her staff to get as many abortion patients in as possible before the ban went into effect on Monday. 

Sharp said they overbooked their schedules for three days last week to accommodate patients seeking an abortion that would be prohibited once the law is in effect. 

Sharp estimated half the patients affected were able to get in before the Monday deadline, but the other half could not get time off work or get childcare to be seen sooner. 

Sharp has also worked to help make calls and connect patients who wouldn’t be able to get an abortion in Iowa with patient navigators to help them get appointments in bordering states where abortion is legal past six weeks. 

Under Nebraska law abortion is legal up to 12 weeks, and Minnesota has no restrictions based on gestational age or cardiac activity. Illinois also has no restrictions on abortion up until fetal viability of around 24-26 weeks. 

Sharp said the ban has been a “devastating blow” to those at Iowa’s six planned parenthood clinics, two of which provide abortion care. 

“Abortion access will look very different in Iowa,” Sharp said in a call with reporters Friday. “We just want the best for all of our patients. We truly believe in lifting up the well-being of Iowans, the people we show up every day to help, but we keep facing roadblock after roadblock.” 

Dr. Sarah Traxler, the chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood North Central States and runs the Planned Parenthood clinics in Iowa, said Planned Parenthood will continue to support patients seeking access to abortion to the extent allowed under the law. 

“Personal health care decisions belong between patients and their doctors, not politicians who lack any medical expertise,” Traxler said in a call with reporters Friday. “We have planned for this moment. We understand the real people who will be impacted by this reckless ban and we’re doing everything we can to mitigate the harm caused by this dangerous policy.”   

Iowa Democrats looking to organize on abortion access “now it’s real” 

Iowa Democrats, and national Democrats, are looking to campaign on access to reproductive healthcare heading into November’s general election. 

The issue is popular among Iowa voters, with over 60 percent of respondents to a March 2023 Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa poll saying they support access to abortion services. 

“We now have fewer than 100 days until the November election, and so we are asking Iowans to start making a plan to vote,” Iowa Democrats chair Rita Hart said in a call with reporters Monday. “Our lives, our livelihoods, and healthcare are on the ballot, we need to bring back common sense and balance to Iowa government.” 

Democrats said the issue will be more potent now that the consequences of the abortion ban will be visible to Iowa voters. 

“What I’m asking Iowans to do is to look at the consequences of where we are now,” Iowa House Democrats leader Jennifer Konfrst said on Monday. “We’re no longer talking about a threat. We’re talking about what really has happened, and I think that’s going to change Iowans minds in many ways.” 

Christina Bohannan, the Democratic nominee for Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, said the ban “has not been a reality in Iowa until today” and many people still don’t know about the ban.  

“When people get word of this, I think it is going to send a shockwave across the state,” Bohannan said. “I think that people are going to be looking to protect our freedom. And we will be getting that message out to voters over the next few months.” 

Reynolds: “Today is a victory for life” 

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds celebrated the court’s dissolution of the injunction when it was announced on last week. 

“Today is a victory for life,” Reynolds said in a statement last Tuesday. “There is nothing more sacred and no cause more worthy than protecting innocent unborn lives.” 

Anti-Abortion advocate: Life at Conception bill is next 

Maggie DeWitte, the executive director of Iowa Pulse Life Advocates an anti-abortion advocacy group, said she has been advocating for an abortion ban for over 25 years and said Monday was “a day of celebration” for the anti-abortion movement. 

“I feel grateful to be part of the pro-life movement in Iowa that has helped bring forward this law,” DeWitte said. “We’re feeling very joyous and very blessed.” 

DeWitte said now that the state’s near-total abortion ban is allowed to go into effect after a lengthy legal battle the next goal for the group is to pass a “life at conception bill.” 

“Our mission at Pulse Life Advocates is to educate Iowans on the sanctity of human life from fertilization until natural death,” DeWitte said.  “And so as we move forward to the next steps, we’re looking at our next legislative session, and we will be bringing forward a life a conception bill.”