The final days of the Iowa legislature saw a new amendment passed by Republicans in the House and Senate regarding abortion. The Fetal Heartbeat Bill, originally passed in 2018 and later deemed unconstitutional, would have made it illegal for a woman to get an abortion if the fetus had a heartbeat. A similar consitutional amendment did not receive enough votes during this legislative session, but House and Senate Republicans passed a constitutional amendment requiring women to wait 24-hours in order to get an abortion, look at an ultrasound of the fetus, and receive adoption information. Representative Joe Mitchell supported the amendment, “That was obviously a compromise that happened. We didn’t have votes for the heartbeat bill. My constituents know I’m pro-life, always have been, always will be. So I was happy to vote for the 24-hour waiting period. I don’t think it’s an extreme piece of policy that people have to wait 24 hours before making a huge life decision like that.” 

While this amendment waits on the desk of Governor Kim Reynolds for a signature, Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union have filed a lawsuit. The lawsuit seeks to temporarily block the law from going into effect on July 1. Iowa Executive Director of Planned Parenthood North Central States Erin Davison-Rippey says this amendment could delay a person’s ability to get an abortion by weeks creating more hurdles for individuals such as rescheduling appointments and driving long distances for an appointment. She says “This is clearly a political ploy to create barriers to sexual and reproductive health care in Iowa.”