Iowa Judge Temporarily Suspends New Abortion Ban
On Friday, Iowa’s Republican governor signed a strict new abortion ban into law. And for three days, most abortions in Iowa were illegal past six weeks of pregnancy. Until Monday afternoon, when a district judge put the ban on hold.
Joseph Seidlin, a district court judge in Polk County, said that the new ban would be suspended while the larger legal case against it moved forward. He said in his ruling that the plaintiffs who filed a lawsuit against the ban, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers, were likely to succeed on the merits of their case.
That means that abortion in Iowa is once again legal up to around 22 weeks of pregnancy, at least for now.
“We are deeply relieved that the court granted this relief so essential health care in Iowa can continue,’’ said Dr. Abbey Hardy-Fairbanks, medical director of the Emma Goldman Clinic, one of the plaintiffs. “We are also acutely aware that the relief is only pending further litigation and the future of abortion in Iowa remains tenuous and threatened.”
Source: The New York Times
