In Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, Inc. v. Reynolds, (IA Dist. Ct., Jan. 22, 2019), an Iowa state trial court judge held that Iowa’s “fetal heartbeat” abortion law violates the Iowa state constitution. Relying in large part on a 2018 Iowa Supreme Court decision which held that any limit on a woman’s right to choose must meet the strict scrutiny test, the court said in part:
[I]t is undisputed that the threshold for the restriction upon a woman’s fundamental right to terminate a pregnancy (the detection of a fetal heartbeat) contained within Iowa Code chapter 146C constitutes a prohibition of previability abortions. As such, it is violative of both the due process and equal protection provisions of the Iowa Constitution as not being narrowly tailored to serve the compelling state interest of promoting potential life. Accordingly, this court grants the petitioners’ motion for summary judgment and declares Iowa Code chapter 146C unconstitutional and therefore void…. The petitioners’ request for injunctive relief will also be granted.
Townhall reports on the decision.