The Polk County Courthouse.
The legal battle over Iowa’s heartbeat abortion law continued today with a hearing in Polk County District Court.
Lawyers for Planned Parenthood and the ACLU are asking a judge to forgo a trial and declare the law unconstitutional. They say it would effectively ban almost all abortions in Iowa because it prohibits them after a fetal heartbeat is detected, as early as six weeks into a pregnancy.
Thomas More Society lawyer, Martin Cannon, is a working for the state. He says this law should stand even though the Iowa Supreme Court recently found abortion is a fundamental right. “Take it as a given that it’s a fundamental right. That doesn’t mean it’s totally hands off. It means regulate it carefully,” Cannon says.
Planned Parenthood lawyer Alice Clapman says women need more time to find out they’re pregnant, make a decision, and get the resources needed for the procedure. “You cannot recognize this right as fundamental, recognize how important it is to have that freedom, and then allow the state to come in and ban it,” Clapman says.
Judge Michael Huppert says he’ll likely take nearly two months to decide either to permanently block the law or to move forward with a trial.
(Thanks to Katarina Sostaric, Iowa Public Radio)