Judge agrees to halt fetal heartbeat abortion law in Iowa

DES MOINES, Iowa — An Iowa judge agreed Friday to temporarily block the most restrictive abortion law in the country under an agreement between the state and abortion rights groups.

Attorneys for the state and Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds told the judge they agreed to prevent the law from taking effect on July 1 after discussions with three groups challenging the law: the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, Planned Parenthood Federation of American and the Emma Goldman Clinic.

The groups are suing the state, arguing that the law — which bans most abortions if a fetal heartbeat can be detected — is unconstitutional. An attorney representing the state said Friday that the goal now is to quickly get the case before a judge. “for the sake of getting to a resolution on the merits sooner and better.”

Both sides have said they want the case to go to the Iowa Supreme Court — though anti-abortion rights groups are aiming for the U.S. Supreme Court.

The state is being represented for free by the Thomas More Society, a conservative Chicagobased law firm that stepped in after Democratic Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller refused to defend the law that Reynolds signed May 2. Miller said he believed the law undermines the rights and protections for women.

If the fetal heartbeat law is eventually allowed to take effect in Iowa, most abortions would be banned after around the sixth week of pregnancy — a time when, abortion-rights groups say, many women don’t even know they’re pregnant.

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