DES MOINES, Iowa- A lawsuit has been filed, challenging Iowa's new Fetal Heartbeat Law. The suit is being filed by the American Civil Liberties Union-Iowa, along with the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, on behalf of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland and Dr. Jill Meadows. The Emma Goldman Clinic of Iowa city is a co-plaintiff.
ACLU-Iowa Legal Director Rita Bettis says they're suing Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and the Iowa Board of Medicine in state court, asking the court block the new Fetal Heartbeat law. Bettis says they are asking for a temporary injunction, and have submitted a petition to block the law. Plaintiffs are asking for expedited decision, within 14 days, since the law is scheduled to go into effect in July of this year.
Suzanna de Baca, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland says the law violates the Iowa Constitution. De Baca said during a news conference in Des Moines that Iowans are "outraged" accusing Governor Reynolds and those who voted for the bill, "put their personal politics above health and common sense."
Francine Thompson is the Co-Director of the Emma Goldman Clinic in Iowa City. She says the law's cut-off period for the bill, at roughly six weeks, would basically amount to a complete ban on abortions in the state. Thompson says the exceptions in the law are non-exceptions are out of touch of reality of survivors of rape and incest.
(Pictured: Suzanna de Baca, Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, Rita Bettis, ACLU-Iowa, Francine Thompson, Co-Director, Emma Goldman Clinic)
Iowa Governor signs Fetal Heartbeat Bill into law
By Sue Danielson, Wendy Wilde