On June 28, 2024, the Iowa State Supreme Court lifted an injunction on a law effectively banning abortions after six-weeks. Which will establish a near-total ban on abortions in the state.
This ruling will deny critical and life-saving care to pregnant people in the state. Make no mistake: This law will result in the death of Iowans.
This ruling is also undemocratic, as 60 percent of Iowans believe abortion should be legal.
This ruling once again proves that Iowa cares only for the rights and livelihoods of some of its citizens — not all.
Abortions will continue and Iowans who need care will be forced to travel outside of the state. The Iowa Abortion Access Fund remains committed to helping Iowans access abortion care. And we refuse to back down on our advocacy for reproductive justice and care. We believe in a vision of Iowa where all people, women, marginalized people, poor people, LGBTQ+ people, will all be able to access the life-saving care they need without shame.
We will still be fundraising and advocating for reproductive justice and working to ensure Iowans have access to safe abortions for those who need them. It is more important now than ever to support the Iowa Abortion Access Fund as we continue to provide abortion care to Iowans in need: The cost of care is going to increase significantly.
Abortion bans do not save the lives of babies; they put pregnant people at risk. And not just those who want abortions. Abortion restrictions put the lives of all pregnant people at risk. In Texas and Arkansas, people with wanted pregnancies were unable to access life-saving care when they experienced miscarriages. Death, fear, and a lack of necessary care: This is the bleak and devastating future that the Iowa Supreme Court and the politicians who passed this law have ensured.
As states like Texas show, this ruling will put people at risk of death and injury. Already in America, states with abortion bans are seeing an increase in maternal mortality rates. Iowa, which already has a high maternal mortality rate, will see more pregnant people die because they cannot access necessary care.
Iowa’s regressive and restrictive reproductive policies are putting Iowans at risk. Currently in Iowa, one-third of our counties are maternity care deserts and 61 percent of our hospitals lack a labor and delivery unit. And this will only get worse. Studies show that abortion bans result in an increase in infant mortality rates, higher child poverty rates, and lower median earnings for mothers.
Leah Vanden Bosch, Development and Outreach Director for IAAF stated, “The upholding of this abortion ban in Iowa is an absolute devastation and violation of human rights, depriving Iowans of their bodily autonomy. Abortion is essential health care that needs to be accessible to all. This ban will harm marginalized communities and puts the lives of all pregnant people at risk. We know a ban will not stop the need for abortions. Please continue to stay engaged and support people who need abortion care. By working together, we will continue to take care of one another.”
Last year, in a ruling on a separate near-total abortion ban — which the court struck down — Iowa Supreme Court Justice Thomas Waterman wrote, “It would be ironic and troubling to be the first state Supreme Court in the nation to hold that trash set out in a garbage can for collection is entitled to more constitutional protection than a woman’s interest in autonomy and dominion over her own body.”
We now live in a state where pregnant people have fewer rights than a bag of trash.
The attacks on our rights will not stop here. As in other states, anti-choice politicians will continue to attack reproductive rights, including limiting or banning birth control, such as Plan B. And this ruling will continue to drive qualified medical professionals out of our state.
We encourage Iowans in the state to demand answers from their politicians and to push back against this extremist ruling that will put so many lives in danger. And we encourage them to donate to fund abortions for Iowans in need of care. This fight for our lives continues and IAAF, one of the oldest abortion funds in the nation, is committed to this work.