Planned Parenthood Sues to Stop 72-Hour Waiting Period Before Aborting a Baby

State   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Jul 17, 2017   |   6:06PM   |   Des Moines, Iowa

Requirements that a patient wait three days and receive information before having an irreversible, life-altering medical procedure hardly seems unreasonable.

But abortion activists are challenging an Iowa law that does just that with abortion, a life-altering and life-destroying procedure.

On Monday, Planned Parenthood of the Heartland and the American Civil Liberties Union asked a judge to block the law, claiming it could increase the costs of an abortion in Iowa and hurt women, The Des Moines Register reports.

The Iowa law requires that a woman is offered the chance to see an ultrasound of her unborn baby and receive information about her baby’s development, abortion risks and alternatives before having an abortion. It also requires that women wait 72 hours prior to going through with the abortion.

Attorneys for the pro-abortion groups argued that the law puts an undue burden on women by requiring that they wait three days before having the abortion, according to the report.

Here’s more:

Meadows told the judge that the new law will essentially require women to make at least two trips to a Planned Parenthood clinic or other provider. Though the law only requires a three-day waiting period, a lack of resources and scheduling concerns mean that women could end up waiting a week or more for the procedure, she said.

The extra waiting period could be particularly harmful to women who want to keep their abortion private from a romantic partner, for fear of violence or retribution, Meadows said. It also would burden rape victims who become pregnant and want to terminate the pregnancy, she said.

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The 72-hour waiting period is not in effect right now because of the lawsuit, according to the report.

The two pro-abortion groups also are challenging the state ban on abortions after 20 weeks when strong scientific evidence shows unborn babies feel pain.

These laws help protect unborn babies from abortion, and the abortion industry knows it. Studies have found that when women see ultrasound images of their unborn babies, they are more likely to choose life.

The law also will protect late-term unborn babies from painful, violent abortions. The United States is one of only seven nations to allow abortion on-demand more than halfway through pregnancy. Polling done on Election Day 2016 found that a large majority of voters nationwide – women in higher numbers than men – support the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which protects unborn babies from abortion after 20 weeks.

Nineteen other states also passed laws to protect pain-capable unborn babies from abortion after 20 weeks. A few have been challenged, but many others are in effect.

“Our state was previously one of the most permissive on abortion, allowing abortion on-demand well beyond five months, more than halfway through pregnancy,” said Jenifer Bowen, a spokeswoman for Iowa Right to Life, when the bill passed in May. “After a years-long battle to gain a pro-life Senate, Iowa finally succeeded in passing life-saving legislation that bans painful late-term abortions.”