Attorneys representing Governor Kim Reynolds have taken the formal step of asking a district court to let a state law take effect that would ban most abortions in Iowa.
Attorneys with the Alliance Defending Freedom and Iowa attorney Alan Ostergren filed a motion, asking the court to lift its injunction against a law that bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected. That’s generally around the sixth week of a pregnancy. In a written statement, Governor Reynolds indicated recent rulings from the U.S. and Iowa Supreme Courts provide a pathway to challenge the injunction and have the law take effect. Reynolds says life and death are determined by a person’s heartbeat and Reynolds said she believes that includes unborn children. When Reynolds signed the so-called “fetal heartbeat” law four years ago, it was the toughest abortion law in the country.