Governor Kim Reynolds says she’s waiting to receive the official copy of legislation that supporters say will place Iowa at “ground zero” in the national debate over abortion. A bill that would ban nearly all abortions in Iowa cleared the House late Tuesday night and the Senate early Wednesday morning. Reynolds told reporters she was “excited” to see the bill which bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, but isn’t ready to publicly declare she’ll sign it into law.
Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, a Democrat, is already considering whether his office would defend a new state abortion ban in court. A lawsuit challenging it is expected if the governor signs the bill into law.
Miller’s office is already defending the state in the lawsuit seeking to overturn the 2017 law that requires a three-day waiting period for women seeking abortions in Iowa. The A-C-L-U of Iowa and Planned Parenthood of the Heartland filed that lawsuit a year ago. It’s likely those groups would be involved in a legal challenge of this new law.
