Iowa Supreme Court halts state's new abortion restrictions

William Petroski
The Des Moines Register

The Iowa Supreme Court issued an emergency order Friday halting the enforcement of a new state law requiring a 72-hour waiting period for women seeking an abortion.

Gov. Terry Branstad signed Senate File 471 at 8:30 a.m. Friday. The state's highest court responded less two hours later by granting a temporary injunction at the request of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland and the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa. The order was signed by Justice David Wiggins.

The drama over the new abortion restrictions followed the denial of a request for a temporary injunction Thursday by Judge Jeffrey Farrell in Polk County District Court.

Planned Parenthood's lawyer said the organization had 44 patients scheduled for abortion appointments Friday in Iowa.

Planned Parenthood, the state's largest abortion provider, had contended that provisions of the new state law violate the Iowa Constitution, citing a lack of due process and equal-protection rights.

In addition to a waiting period, the law will require women to make two trips to a doctor to obtain an abortion, the organization said.

"This order immediately and temporarily blocks the challenged provisions of the law; the 72-hour minimum waiting period and a medically unnecessary additional appointment," said Rita Bettis, ACLU-Iowa's legal director.

The defendants in the case are Branstad and the Iowa Board of Medicine.

Wiggins' order said the temporary injunction prohibits enforcement of the new law's challenged provisions until the high court has an opportunity to review a response filed by the Iowa attorney general's office.

That response was filed late Friday afternoon by Iowa Solicitor General Jeffrey Thompson and Assistant Iowa Attorney General Thomas Ogden, who said Iowa has a legitimate interest in regulating the medical profession to promote respect for life, including the life of the unborn.

The Iowa attorney general's lawyers said the U.S. Supreme Court has made it clear there is no right to "abortion on demand."

Their response also said the plaintiffs have not identified a single Iowa case suggesting that the new law's informed consent requirement violates the Iowa Constitution.

Nothing suggests the 44 women scheduled to receive abortions from Planned Parenthood on Friday would have faced any harm under the new law other than having to reschedule their appointments, the state's lawyers said.

But Suzanna de Baca, chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, said the two-hour period between the time Branstad signed the law and when the temporary injunction was issued wreaked havoc on many patients’ lives.

"One woman had driven seven hours to her appointment, only to be told she couldn’t have the procedure today; others were angry and upset at the intrusion into their lives," de Baca said.

In denying the request for a temporary injunction Thursday, Farrell said Planned Parenthood and ACLU-Iowa faced a high standard in making their case that the three-day waiting period is unconstitutional and creates an undue burden on Iowa women seeking an abortion.

Farrell cited a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court decision in a Pennsylvania case that considered a 24-hour waiting period for abortions.

The court concluded that the state may enact regulations to further the health or safety of a woman seeking an abortion. The court accepted that a waiting period may impose some burden but did not find it presented an undue burden. 

Earlier Friday morning, more than 50 Iowans opposed to abortion applauded as Branstad signed the legislation, which will also ban most abortions in Iowa after 20 weeks. He praised it as one of the "most pro-life bills" to pass the Iowa Legislature in recent years.

"I have been fighting for the unborn since I ran for the Legislature in 1972, and I have not stopped. I am really pleased with this General Assembly and the progress that was made," Branstad said.

"I think that this year was really a banner year for the pro-life movement. History was made this session." 

Jenifer Bowen, a leader of Iowa Right to Life, said the signing of the legislation marked an "amazing, historic day."

"We are seeing for the first time, quite possibly in Iowa history, a bill that will actually save lives," Bowen said. "Babies 20 weeks in the womb will now be protected."

Bob Vander Plaats, president and chief executive of The Family Leader, a Christian conservative group, said his organization was part of a coalition during the 2017 Legislature's session that sought laws declaring that life begins at conception and to stop taxpayer funding for women's health facilities that provide abortions.

Vander Plaats said he is optimistic Iowa's courts will uphold the constitutionality of the new law.

"We believe the very same constitution protects the sanctity of life," he said.

During the bill-signing ceremony, four Drake University students silently protested, wearing white bonnets and red capes. They were portraying characters described in a novel, "The Handmaid's Tale," by author Margaret Atwood, in which the ruling class kept some women for breeding purposes in an era of declining births.

"We feel that the legislation that Branstad is signing puts us in the same position as the handmaids," said Hannah Van Zee, 21, of Des Moines, a Drake junior. 

Phoebe Clark, 20, a Drake junior from Lawrence, Kan., said she views the Iowa law as reproductive coercion by the state.

"This is blatantly unconstitutional; it completely disregards the needs of women in Iowa and completely ignores the reason why anyone would need or want an abortion after a 20-week mark," she said.

Although the Iowa law imposes a ban on most abortions after 20 weeks, that provision was not a focus of the request for an injunction. The new law will allow an abortion after 20 weeks if doctors determine it's necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother.

However, it does not include exemptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest, or for pregnancies in which a genetic anomaly makes life after birth impossible.

The new law has been described as imposing some of the strictest requirements in the nation on women seeking an abortion.