{"id":293267,"date":"2023-06-16T14:35:18","date_gmt":"2023-06-16T19:35:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=293267"},"modified":"2023-06-16T13:45:07","modified_gmt":"2023-06-16T18:45:07","slug":"iowa-supreme-court-ruling-heartbeat-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/iowa-supreme-court-ruling-heartbeat-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Iowa Supreme Court issues strange ruling on state’s ‘heartbeat law’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Supreme Court has refused to reinstate Iowa\u2019s heartbeat law, which would have protected virtually all preborn children in the state from abortion. Though the law remains blocked, the justices did say their ruling was largely procedural, and that legislators could pass a new, identical<\/em>, law instead. <\/span>
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\n<\/span>In 2018, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill banning abortions after a heartbeat can be detected, though it contained exceptions for rape and incest. Yet in 2019, the law was <\/span>struck down<\/span><\/a> by Iowa Judge Michael Huppert, who claimed that \u201cthe due process and equal protection provisions of the Iowa Constitution\u201d do not \u201cserve the compelling state interest of promoting potential life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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In 2019, the Iowa Supreme Court blocked that law, and Reynolds challenged that ruling. Today, the court voted in a 3-3 decision to <\/span>uphold<\/span><\/a> the previous ruling. Writing for the justices who voted against reinstating the law, Justice Thomas Waterman said granting Reynolds\u2019 request would mean bypassing the state legislature. <\/span>
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\n<\/span>\u201cIn our view it is legislating from the bench to take a statute that was moribund when it was enacted and has been enjoined for four years and then to put it in effect,\u201d he wrote.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, preborn children, even in the first trimester, are <\/span>living human beings<\/span><\/a> and not mere “potential life,” with brain waves present, a four-chambered heart, and the ability to move his hands, feet, legs, and arms by six to seven weeks gestation.<\/span>
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