Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said on Tuesday that plans are in progress to appeal a temporary block on the state’s new, restrictive abortion law, previewing a likely emotional court battle that could take months to resolve.
The Republican-controlled Legislature approved the measure to ban most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy during a special session last week, and the law went into effect Friday, immediately after Reynolds signed it. The ACLU of Iowa, Planned Parenthood North Central States and the Emma Goldman Clinic launched a legal challenge and on Monday, Judge Joseph Seidlin granted their request to pause the law as the courts assess its constitutionality.
Abortion remains legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks of pregnancy since the new law is on hold.
Abortion providers said they scrambled to fit in as many appointments as possible before the governor signed the bill, making hundreds of calls to prepare patients for the uncertainty and keeping clinics open late.
After the ruling, providers at Planned Parenthood and the Emma Goldman Clinic indicated they were relieved but conscious of the long legal fight ahead.
“The state’s relentless efforts to ban abortion even before many people know they are pregnant continue, but whenever that appeal is filed, we will keep working together to protect the rights of Iowans to safe and legal abortion care,” Rita Bettis Austen, legal director at ACLU of Iowa, said in a statement.
