DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds on Friday signed a six-week abortion ban into law, setting in motion a new legal battle over the future of reproductive rights in the key early presidential state, and further escalating the presence of a divisive issue in the campaign.
Surrounded by a cadre of Republican state legislators and anti-abortion leaders, Reynolds inked the measure during a special, on-stage presentation at the Family Leadership Summit — a prominent political gathering hosted by an evangelical Christian group.
“All life is precious and worthy of the protection of our laws,” Reynolds said during the signing ceremony, adding that the law represents “an ironclad commitment to the smallest and most vulnerable among us.”
The law went into effect the moment Reynolds signed the bill, but it could be short-lived.
Across town, at a Polk County District Court, the state judge hearing a challenge filed by a group of reproductive rights groups seeking a temporary injunction, said he would need until next week to make a ruling.
“Our work is not done. As we gather here today at this very moment, the abortion industry is in the court trying to prevent this law from taking effect and stop, once again, the will of the people.” – Gov. Kim Reynolds
“This request requires my strong and lengthy attention,” Polk County District Court Judge Joseph Seidlin said during the hearing. A ruling is possible as early as Monday.
If the request for an emergency injunction is granted, the six-week ban would be blocked while the legal challenge plays out in the court system.
Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa and the Emma Goldman Clinic, a women’s health care facility in Iowa City, filed the legal challenge in a state court Wednesday afternoon, arguing that the new ban violates the Iowa state constitution …
