The Iowa Supreme Court justice who’s on President Trump’s list of potential nominees for the U.S. Supreme Court has written a stinging dissent to today’s ruling that overturned the state’s three-day waiting period for abortions.
Iowa Supreme Court Justice Edward Mansfield wrote that abortion is “one of the most divisive issues in America today” — and “each side” in the debate is “motivated by a legitimate concern.” In his dissent, Mansfield said the state has waiting periods before divorces, adoptions and marriages are final and the legislature has the right to impose a waiting period before an abortion. Mansfield said the five justices who joined the majority opinion exhibited an “undertone of moral criticism for abortion opponents” in their ruling.
Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Cady wrote the majority opinion. Cady said women in Iowa “face significant obstacles” to abortion already. Cady also said “dominion over one’s body” is at “the very heart of what it means to be free.”