A Polk County judge issued an injunction to Iowa’s new abortion law in a court hearing this morning,
Lawyers for both sides agreed to the injunction temporarily blocking the implementation of the law during the short hearing. Planned Parenthood, the ACLU of Iowa and the Emma Goldman Clinic requested the injunction while their lawsuit seeking to overturn the law makes its way through the courts. The law which bans abortions when a heartbeat can be detected was scheduled to take effect July first.
The lawyer representing the state says he agreed to put the law on hold because they’ll be able to argue the “merits of the case” sooner. Planned Parenthood and the ACLU sued Governor Kim Reynolds and the Iowa Board of Medicine — saying the law violates the Iowa Constitution.
ACLU of Iowa Legal Director Rita Bettis says her team is satisfied since the state didn’t argue against the injunction.
“At the end of the day, that resolves the uncertainty so women in Iowa don’t have to live with the burden of that uncertainty of knowing whether or not they’ll have abortion rights come July first,” Bettis says. It could take several months for the courts to make a final decision about the constitutionality of the law.
(Katarina Sostoric of Iowa Public Radio also contributed to this story)