Iowa's Republican governor calls a special legislative session to revive abortion restrictions

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on Wednesday day called a special legislative session to pursue new abortion restrictions after the state Supreme Court declined to reinstate a 2018 ban after about six weeks of pregnancy.

The court was split 3-3 last month and did not issue a decision on the merits of the law, leaving open the possibility that the GOP-controlled Legislature would try to pass a similar ban. In the meantime, abortion remains legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Lawmakers will meet on July 11.

Most Republican-led states have significantly curbed abortion access since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year. Separately, the Iowa Supreme Court in 2022 reversed an opinion that said the state constitution affirms a fundamental right to abortion.

After those rulings, Reynolds declined to call a special session last year to enact new restrictions, instead choosing to work through the state courts to try to get the 2018 ban into effect. The law had been blocked by a 2019 district court ruling.

The law banned abortion once cardiac activity can be detected, which is usually around six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant. It included exceptions for medical emergencies, rape, incest and fetal abnormality.

Any new ban is likely to be challenged in state court.

Iowa's high court has not resolved whether earlier rulings that applied an “undue burden test” for abortion laws remain in effect. The undue burden is an intermediate level of scrutiny that requires laws do not create a significant obstacle to abortion. Lawyers for the state argued the law should be analyzed using rational basis review, the lowest level of scrutiny to judge legal challenges.

Reynolds has ordered a special session just one other year, in 2021, when lawmakers came together in two separate special sessions to approve the drawing of congressional and legislative districts.