Iowa's abortion waiting period ruled unconstitutional by state Supreme Court

Iowa, a state with some of the strictest abortion laws in the nation, just had one struck down by the Iowa Supreme Court on Friday, the Des Moines Register reported.

The court ruled that a law requiring women to wait 72 hours after their initial appointment to get an abortion violates the state's Constitution in a reversal of a previous district court ruling.

"The state has a legitimate interest in informing women about abortion, but the means used under the statute enacted does not meaningfully serve that objective," wrote Chief Justice Mark Cady for the five-judge majority. "Because our Constitution requires more, we reverse the decision of the district court."

What is the background?

The law, signed in 2017 by former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, was challenged by Planned Parenthood of the Heartland.

Planned Parenthood attorney Alice Chapman argued that the state was trying to impose "more severe burdens on women who choose abortion than almost all other states in violation of both the Iowa Constitution and federal law."

The specific provision that was ruled unconstitutional is called the "informed choice provision," which Iowa Solicitor General Jeffrey Thompson said, "reflects the hope of the Legislature that after receiving the information and taking some time to consider it, some women will choose to continue a pregnancy that they might otherwise have terminated."

The court decided that the waiting period violated the equal protection clause of the Iowa Constitution, removing from women the "opportunity to control their reproductive lives" and denying them the chance to "fully assume a position in society equal to men, who face no such similar constraints for comparable sexual activity."

The dissenting opinion

Two justices disagreed with the majority opinion. Justice Edward Mansfield, who is reportedly being considered for the newly open seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, called out some perceived contradictions in the ruling.

First, Mansfield expressed some confusion about how a limit on abortion violated the state Constitution, when a full abortion ban was considered constitutional in Iowa until Roe vs. Wade established the right to abortion.

Mansfield then pointed to other state-mandated waiting periods, such as those for marriage, adoption and divorce.

"No one can reasonably question the Legislature's power to impose these waiting periods before Iowans begin or end a marriage or give up a newborn baby for adoption," Mansfield wrote. "So why can't the Legislature impose a waiting period before an abortion?"

Are there other abortion legal issues?

Iowa's "fetal heartbeat" abortion ban is currently on hold for a court challenge. That law would ban most abortions after about six weeks. The state's ban on abortions after 20 weeks still stands.

Iowa citizens have, in the past, made strong statements against judges who took a stand on a social issue that went against their will.

In 2010, Iowans voted out three state Supreme Court justices who agreed, in a unanimous decision, to legalize same-sex marriage in the state.

"I think it will send a message across the country that the power resides with the people," said Bob Vander Plaats, who led the campaign to vote the judges out. "It's we the people, not we the courts."

(H/T The Guardian)