Republican Governor Kim Reynolds of Iowa has just signed the nation’s most restrictive abortion ban.The Heartbeat bill, which passed late Tuesday night, bans abortions if a doctor can detect a heartbeat in the fetus. That often means at six weeks, which can be before a woman is certain she is pregnant.
The legislation is so restrictive that it requires a physician to tell a woman, in writing, if a heartbeat can be detected, as CNN reports. At that point it becomes illegal to perform the abortion.
Republican lawmakers were not even hiding their real intent: they are passing extreme anti-abortion bills in the hope that the Supreme Court will review them and overturn Roe v. Wade.
“This bill will be the vehicle that will ultimately provide change and provide the opportunity to overturn Roe v. Wade,” Iowa Republican state senator Rick Bertrand said of the legislation during floor debate. “There’s nothing hidden here about the agenda. You know, today the pro-life movement won a battle, but the war rages on.”
As the governor signed the bill, protesters outside her office were chanting.
The ACLU announced immediately it will sue, in partnership with Planned Parenthood:
Image by Iowa Public Radio Images via Flickr and a CC license