WASHINGTON – Today, Governor Kim Reynolds signed Iowa’s law protecting unborn children from abortion after the heartbeat has been detected.
The Iowa General Assembly passed the bill late Tuesday night in a special legislative session. The bill passed in a vote of 56 to 34 in the Iowa House and 32 to 17 in the Iowa Senate.
“We praise Governor Kim Reynolds, pro-life members of the Iowa legislature, and pro-life leaders across the state,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “We also praise our Iowa affiliate, Iowa Right to Life, for their hard work in passing this law which will protect unborn children.”
On July 5, pro-life Governor Kim Reynolds called for the special legislative session in response to the June 16 Iowa Supreme Court’s 3-3 decision regarding a lower court injunction against Iowa’s 2018 Fetal Heartbeat Law. The 2018 law was designed to protect unborn babies from abortion after the heartbeat has been detected. The split decision by the Iowa Supreme Court allows a lower court injunction against the 2018 law to stand.
“Iowa Right to Life wants to thank pro-life champions Governor Kim Reynolds and the pro-life members of the Iowa legislature,” said Kristi Judkins, executive director of Iowa Right to Life. “They were committed to seeing this legislation pass and we honor them! We are proud to stand beside Governor Reynolds, the pro-life legislators, and members of our Iowa Coalition of Pro-Life Leaders.”
Continued Judkins, “The mission of our adversaries is to see more babies killed by abortion, but we will continue to advocate for life and will not stop fighting until abortion becomes unthinkable. We want to see lives saved and women no longer placed in harm’s way because of abortion.”
Today’s signing brings forward a Fetal Heartbeat Law and places it under the guidelines rendered in the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.