Iowa’s Six Week ‘Heartbeat’ Abortion Ban

Press Statement: Legislator censored by Iowa House as cruelest abortion ban in U.S. passes into law.

The National Network of Abortion Funds (NNAF) is alarmed by Iowa’s new law banning abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. Iowa politicians who voted for this law should be ashamed for passing such a dangerous piece of legislation.

Melissa Torres-Montoya, Policy Director at NNAF, describes the impact of such a ban:

“Iowa now has the dubious distinction of having the cruelest abortion law in the United States. A six-week ban is actually a complete abortion ban in disguise, but it’s not tricking anyone. Six weeks simply doesn’t take the reality of pregnancy into account. It can take more than six weeks to even find out that you’re pregnant, so it makes it impossible for any of us to think through a course of action, talk with our families, or even talk to a doctor. We all deserve the time we need to figure out what we want our immediate present and future family, education, career, finances, and health to look like. Instead, Iowa residents will have to take on extra costs, delays, travel, child care, and may need to take off from work or school to get the abortions they want and need.”

Kentucky and Mississippi are currently fighting these unconstitutional laws in court, and Iowa residents will have the displeasure of watching their tax dollars wasted on “legislative futility” until this law is defeated. In the meantime, people’s lives will be harmed by the political games being played by Iowa’s anti-abortion politicians.

In an overt effort to limit freedom of speech, Iowa anti-abortion politicians even cropped their own dissenting legislator’s, Rep. Amy Nielson, statement T-shirt from their livestream video of the proceedings. This chilling effect on free speech is further proof that anti-abortion lawmakers are all too willing to discard the autonomy and voices of women and people who have abortions. A direct line can be drawn between the unethical silencing of a legislator speaking out for their constituents and this harmful law completely lacking in compassion or real world experiences.

Melissa Torres-Montoya, Policy Director at NNAF, continues:

“Legislators cannot shut us down by controlling our bodies any more than they can shut down our calls to hold them accountable. We will continue to lift our voices, wear our T-shirts, fight in court, and protect our rights as long as anti-abortion zealots work to take them away.”