The Iowa Supreme Court’s decision is awaited as attorneys consider Dobbs’ birthday. •Iowa Capital Dispatch

On the second anniversary of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Iowa Democrats, reproductive health care providers and advocates said Monday they are preparing for an Iowa Supreme Court decision on the state’s six-week abortion ban — and preparing to campaign on these issues before the 2024 General Election.

Planned Parenthood North Central States hosted a virtual roundtable on Monday on how access to abortion and reproductive health care in the Midwest has changed since June 24, 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Court announced its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, finding that Er there is no constitutional right to abortion. The decision ended more than four decades of national guaranteed access to abortion under the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision and gave states the ability to set their own rules and laws regarding abortion.

House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst said at the meeting that access to abortion, as well as other reproductive and maternal health care services, has been jeopardized by the Dobbs decision.

“Ultimately, reproductive freedom is under attack in Iowa,” Konfrst said. “People are trying to control women and our bodies, and in many ways they are successful – and elections can change that.”

Abortion bans were imposed in some states following the court ruling, while legislatures in other states passed new abortion bans and restrictions in the months that followed. Iowa was in a unique position when the 2022 ruling was announced, with the Iowa Supreme Court having ruled earlier this year that there is no constitutional right to abortion. The decision came amid a lawsuit over a 2018 law that aimed to ban most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, when heart impulses can be detected in an embryo. The law contains exceptions in cases of rape, incest and to save the life of the mother.

That law was blocked from enforcement in 2019, and the order was ultimately upheld by the state Supreme Court in 2023 in a 3-3 ruling.

In the ruling, Justice Thomas D. Waterman wrote that lifting the ban would be “legislating from the court,” as the measure was initially passed when abortion was a guaranteed right under both the U.S. and Iowa Constitutions. He also wrote that there is “uncertainty as to whether a fetal heart rate law will be passed today.”

Following the decision to enforce the order, Governor Kim Reynolds called a special session of the Iowa Legislature in July 2023 and signed a new version of the so-called “fetal heartbeat” ban into law. The new measure is currently under review by the Iowa Supreme Court, with a ruling expected on Friday, June 28.

Iowans who oppose and support legal abortion have gathered at the Iowa State Capitol in recent days ahead of the expected decision. At a “March for Life” event Saturday, Attorney General Brenna Bird told the crowd that their faith helped pass abortion restrictions in Iowa, according to the Des Moines Register.

“We are filled with love and joy and hope because of the faith we have, because we know that everyone matters, and that includes the unborn, the innocent unborn – they matter just as much as anyone else,” Bird said.

Bird and attorneys representing the state of Iowa have argued that laws restricting access to abortion should be judged under the “rational basis” test, a lower legal standard that considers laws constitutional if the state has a legitimate reason has to issue the measure. But attorneys for Planned Parenthood and the ACLU of Iowa have called on the Iowa Supreme Court to use the “undue burden” standard — which determines whether laws are overly burdensome or restrict individuals’ basic rights — to review abortion laws.

Leah Vanden Bosch, director of development and outreach for the Iowa Abortion Access Fund, emphasized during Monday’s discussion that abortion is currently still legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks’ gestation. However, she said it is “very difficult to access care” in Iowa.

There are currently four abortion providers in Iowa: Planned Parenthood clinics in Ames, Iowa City and Sioux City, as well as the Emma Goldman Clinic for Women in Iowa City. For people living outside these cities, traveling to the clinics can be a barrier for those seeking the medical procedure, Vanden Bosch said. In addition to limited options for providers, state laws requiring a 24-hour waiting period and an ultrasound before having an abortion increase the time and costs associated with accessing abortion care, she said.

However, Vanden Bosch said these costs are exactly what the Iowa Abortion Access Fund wants to address.

“The Iowa Abortion Access Fund can currently fund abortion care specifically, but there are other funds (where) we can help with practical support costs such as travel and accommodation costs, childcare – so we are also here to help connect clients with additional sources,” said Vanden Bosch. “But right now… as restrictions continue across the country, the work of abortion funds is so crucial. Numbers show us that restrictions or bans will never end the need for abortion care.”

Regardless of the state Supreme Court’s decision, Konfrst said abortion and reproductive health care will be top-of-mind issues for Iowa voters in the upcoming general election. In addition to abortion restrictions, Konfrst said Democrats will campaign on related issues that emerged during the 2024 legislative session, such as a bill on “unborn persons” language that could impact access to in vitro fertilization.

“We see this issue as one that Iowans will consider this fall,” Konfrst said. “And we encourage people to support champions of reproductive freedom. Not all of these things have passed thanks to reproductive freedom advocates in the Iowa Legislature, and we can start to turn things around.”