A Timeline of Abortion Rights in Iowa

Abortion in Iowa is not legal, except in cases where the woman’s life is in danger. Enforcement varies, especially for women with more resources. Many illegal abortions are performed.

The landmark Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade establishes a woman’s constitutional right to access abortion. This decision applies to all states, including Iowa.

Abortion in Iowa is legal with relatively broad access to abortion services and few restrictions.

Often in rural areas where it can be difficult to get the time, money, and transportation to get to a doctor's office, doctors may supervise a person taking oral abortion medication remotely via teleconferencing. But the Iowa Board of Medicine unsuccessfully tries to prohibit the use of telemedicine, where doctors dispense medication abortion remotely, even though the process is very safe. Fortunately, this is blocked permanently and unanimously by the Iowa Supreme Court in 2015 under the “undue burden” standard applied to the Iowa Constitution.

The Iowa Legislature passes a 72-hour waiting period for abortion, which in practice could delay an abortion by weeks. We sue. It is blocked, with a 5-2 decision by the Iowa Supreme Court in 2018. Importantly, the Court finds that abortion is a "fundamental right" and subject to "strict scrutiny" under the Iowa Constitution.

Iowa passes the mis-named “fetal heartbeat” law banning most abortions at around six weeks of pregnancy (at that stage, it's not a fetus; it's an embryo, and it does not have a heart, only electrical cardiac impulses.) We sue, and it is blocked permanently by the Iowa district court in 2019, and the state did not appeal the decision at that time.

The Iowa Legislature starts the multi-year process to potentially change wording in the state constitution to specifically state that the Iowa Constitution does not protect the right to an abortion.

This law requires a 24-hour waiting period for those seeking an abortion, which in reality can delay an abortion by weeks. We sue, and the law is temporarily blocked.

Although we had been able to get a temporary block, which lasted two years, on this law, the Iowa Supreme Court lowered the constitutional protection for abortion in June 2022. It allows the law to go into effect. Devastatingly, the Court also lessens the constitutional protection for abortion under the Iowa Constitution from "strict scrutiny" to "undue burden."

In a decision with wide implications, Roe is overturned in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health on June 24, 2022. Among other things, it turns the question of abortion rights back to the states. Many states (but not Iowa) have "trigger laws" that authorize them to immediately ban abortion.

Gov. Reynolds tries to resurrect this law, which was passed in 2018 and permanently blocked by the courts, with unusual legal maneuvers. Eventually, this attempt ends up in front of the Iowa Supreme Court, which did not remove the block on the law. So the 2018 six-week ban remains permanently blocked.

In a special session, the Iowa Legislature passes a new six-week abortion ban. It’s nearly identical to the old, 2018 six-week ban. A lawsuit is immediately filed, and the law is temporarily blocked. The state files an appeal of the injunction, but it remains blocked while litigation continues.

In a June decision, the Iowa Supreme Court issued a devastating 4-3 decision on the six-week abortion ban 2.0.

Iowa's near-total abortion ban goes into effect on July 29, 2024. It bans abortions as soon as cardiac impulses can be detected, which is at about six weeks, long before most people know they're pregnant. It allows abortion only in very limited instances of rape and incest, or when the life of the pregnant person is in danger.