Iowa Supreme Court upholds ‘heartbeat law’ protecting babies from abortion

Iowa’s top court has upheld the US state’s law preventing most unborn babies being aborted once a heartbeat can be detected.

In a 4-3 majority decision, Iowa’s Supreme Court overturned a temporary block preventing the 2023 ‘heartbeat law’ from coming into effect. Iowa is the 18th US state to implement such protections once a heartbeat can be detected, usually around the sixth week of pregnancy.

Most abortions after six weeks are now set to be banned in Iowa, except in cases of rape, incest, certain foetal abnormalities, and when the mother’s life is in danger.

‘Worthy’

In the Supreme Court’s opinion, Justice McDermott ruled that the law is not unconstitutional because it “rationally related to the state’s legitimate interest in protecting unborn life”.

nothing more worthy of our strongest defense than the innocent unborn

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, who initially signed the protections into law, said there is “nothing more worthy of our strongest defense than the innocent unborn”.

She emphasised: “As the heartbeat bill finally becomes law, we are deeply committed to supporting women in planning for motherhood, and promoting fatherhood and its importance in parenting.”

‘Baby Olivia’

Earlier this year, the US state of Tennessee set to ensure that schools teach young people about the development of unborn babies in the womb.

The ‘Baby Olivia Act’, signed into law by Governor Bill Lee, requires most publicly funded schools to show children a “high-quality, computer-generated animation or high-definition ultrasound” of unborn babies’ development.

The law suggests Live Action’s “Baby Olivia” video as one such resource, which highlights that a baby’s sex, “ethnicity, hair color, eye color and countless traits are already determined” at fertilisation.