XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.fan.states.iowa, talk.politics.guns
XPost: alt.abortion

In article <XnsAD3196B402FBBds@95.216.243.224>
bks@panix.com (Bradley K. Sherman) wrote:

The whole USA's gonna be after Democrats in November 2022.

The Iowa Supreme Court on Friday cleared the way for lawmakers
to severely limit or even ban abortion in the state, reversing a
decision by the court just four years ago that guaranteed the
right to abortion under the Iowa Constitution.

The court, now composed almost entirely of Republican
appointees, concluded that a less conservative court wrongly
decided that abortion is among the fundamental privacy rights
guaranteed by the Iowa Constitution and federal law.

Friday's ruling comes amid expectations that the U.S. Supreme
Court will overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that
established the constitutional right to choose to have an
abortion nationwide. If Roe v. Wade is overturned, Iowa
lawmakers could ban abortion in the state without completing the
lengthy process of amending the state constitution.

The Iowa decision came after the state appealed a lower court
ruling in 2020, which stemmed from a lawsuit filed by abortion
providers that challenged a law requiring people to wait 24
hours before having an abortion. A judge who struck down the law
cited the state high court's 2018 decision, ruling that the
choice to have an abortion was a constitutional right in Iowa.
The judge also concluded that the law violated rules prohibiting
passage of bills with more than one subject.

The state Supreme Court returned the waiting-period case to
district court.

In its 2018 ruling, decided by a 5-2 vote, the court said that
"autonomy and dominion over one's body go to the very heart of
what it means to be free."

The reversal of that decision reflects a dramatic change in the
court's structure. Governor Kim Reynolds has named four justices
since 2017, and six of the seven people on the court have been
appointed by Republican governors.

Reynolds, an outspoken opponent of abortion rights, and
Republicans in the legislature have repeatedly said they hoped
the court would overturn the 2018 ruling. With that in mind,
Reynolds and GOP lawmakers gave the governor more control over
the panel that chooses which lawyers and judges are nominated
for court positions.

The 2018 decision had made Iowa the sixth state — with Alaska,
Florida, Kansas, Montana and Minnesota — where the right to have
an abortion was recognized by the state's high court.

As in Iowa, Republicans control the legislatures and
governorships in Florida and Montana, where GOP leaders have
been stymied from enacting abortion bans that could take effect
if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade and puts
decision-making powers in the hands of state governments.

In Montana, a challenge to abortion restrictions that could test
that state's high court opinion is before the Supreme Court.

In Iowa, Reynolds has not directly answered questions about
whether she would support statewide restrictions on abortion
access without exceptions. She said last month she is "proud of
the legislation she signed in 2018," including the ban on
abortions once cardiac activity is detected, as early as six
weeks and often before many women know they are pregnant. The
measure included exceptions to protect the life of the mother
and in pregnancies that result from incest or rape.

Yet more recently, she stopped short of specifying similar
exceptions. "I'm not going to set any parameters," she told
reporters.

Reynolds called Friday's ruling "a significant victory in our
fight to protect the unborn" in a statement.

"The Iowa Supreme Court reversed its earlier 2018 decision,
which made Iowa the most abortion-friendly state in the
country," the governor said. "Every life is sacred and should be
protected, and as long as I'm governor that is exactly what I
will do."

Iowa Department of Public Health data shows there were 4,058
abortions in Iowa in 2020 — 835 by surgical procedure and 3,222
by medication. That was an increase from the previous year, when
3,566 abortions were reported. Iowa averaged just under 3,500
abortions a year from 2015 to 2019.

Court documents show Planned Parenthood performs about 95% of
abortions in Iowa. Surgical and medical abortions may be
obtained in clinics in Des Moines and Iowa City. Medication
abortion is provided by clinics in other locations, including
Ames, Council Bluffs and Sioux City.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iowa-abortion-not-protected-state- constitution-court-ruling/

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