The Republican-controlled Iowa legislature passed a ban on abortions after 6 weeks, when most women don't know yet that they're pregnant, effectively requiring forced births in that state in most cases. The state's reactionary Governor Kim Reynolds had called a special one-day session in order to pass the forced birth legislation, one of the most restrictive in the U.S.:
"Reynolds celebrated the bill’s passage in a statement late Tuesday and said she will sign it on Friday. 'Justice for the unborn should not be delayed,' she said.
Iowa’s House and Senate passed the legislation along mostly partisan lines late Tuesday after hours of hearings and sometimes heated protests. It is expected to face legal challenges.
Abortion is currently legal in Iowa up to 22 weeks of pregnancy. [snip]
Hundreds of demonstrators packed the Iowa Capitol in Des Moines, some shouting 'Bans off our bodies' while others yelled 'Abortion is murder.' According to the Des Moines Register, at one point supporters and opponents of the bill had to be separated by a state trooper.
After the legislation cleared House and Senate committees Tuesday afternoon, lawmakers began floor debates that sometimes became contentious. 'If they are not ready to have a baby, they shouldn’t have sex. A lot of people need to review their birds and bees,' Republican Rep. Brad Sherman said at point, while Democrats called the bill 'disrespectful' and 'obscene.' (our emphasis)
Severe restrictions on women's reproductive rights have been enacted since Roe v. Wade was struck down last summer in a move that's unpopular nationwide. Dems used the issue to limit gains by Republicans in the House, when many pundits had predicted a "red wave." A similar ban was tried in 2018 but turned aside by the Iowa Supreme Court:
"After the Supreme Court ruling last year, Reynolds asked a district court to allow a roughly six-week abortion ban that had passed in 2018 but was challenged in court to take effect. After the court declined to do so, she took the request to the Iowa Supreme Court, which deadlocked on the matter earlier this year. After the deadline, Reynolds called for the special session.
During Tuesday’s House debate, some Democrats quoted one of the justices, Thomas Waterman, who called the state’s attempt to revive the 2018 six-week abortion ban 'an unprecedented effort to judicially revive a statute that was declared unconstitutional.'” (our emphasis)
Republicans will find these laws to be albatrosses for their election hopes, as the majority of the public reject state Christofascist interference in women's reproductive choices.
