Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds Urges Court to Uphold Abortion Ban So Babies Can be Protected

State   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Apr 25, 2023   |   3:12PM   |   Des Moines, Iowa

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds promised to keep fighting to protect unborn babies from abortion this week as the state Supreme Court considers allowing the Iowa heartbeat law to go into effect

Reynolds’ office is challenging a 2019 Iowa Supreme Court ruling that blocked the law, which protects unborn babies by prohibiting most abortions once an unborn baby’s heartbeat is detectable, about six weeks of pregnancy.

A pro-life Republican, Reynolds told the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition that leftists criticized her earlier this month because she attended oral arguments in the case, KIWA Radio reports. Unfazed, she said she will not cave to abortion extremism as others have done.

“The overturning of Roe v. Wade last year was just the beginning,” she said. “And since then, we’ve seen some in our movement concede ground to abortion extremists. Not in Iowa and not on my watch.”

SUPPORT LIFENEWS! If you want to help fight abortion, please donate to LifeNews.com!

The governor said she attended the hearing because she wants Iowans to know how committed she is to protecting unborn babies. She said a child’s right to life is “the most important freedom of all.”

“I will always be front and center in this fight,” Reynolds said. “I will not rest until Iowa’s courts allow the will of the people to finally take effect, until every unborn child has the chance to experience the greatest gift that our Lord endowed upon us: life.”

There is hope that the pro-abortion ruling will be overturned. According to the Des Moines Register, Reynolds appointed four justices to the seven-member Iowa Supreme Court, and only one current justice was appointed by a Democrat.

If pro-life advocates succeed in court, Iowa would be allowed to enforce its heartbeat law, which could save thousands of unborn babies’ lives every year. In 2020, 4,058 abortions were reported in the state, according to the Charlotte Lozier Institute.

The Alliance Defending Freedom is representing Reynolds in the case, Planned Parenthood of the Heartland v. Reynolds.

“Back in 2019, a state trial court put the fetal heartbeat law on hold based on an Iowa Supreme Court case that had found a state constitutional right to an abortion,” the pro-life legal group explained. “Last year, ADF attorneys helped persuade the Iowa Supreme Court to hold that there is no so-called right to abortion in the Iowa Constitution, and Reynolds is now asking the court to lift the injunction on the heartbeat law.”

The law includes exceptions for medical emergencies, including threats to the mother’s life and serious risk of bodily harm, and for cases of rape, incest and fetal abnormality.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in a historic victory for life and returned the power to legislate abortion to the people. Because of Dobbs v. Jackson, states may protect unborn babies from abortion for the first time in nearly 50 years.

Currently, 15 states are enforcing pro-life laws that ban or strictly limit abortions, and others like Iowa are fighting in court to do the same. This year, others have passed legislation to ban abortions and increase support for pregnant and parenting families. Florida just passed a heartbeat law to ban most abortions once an unborn baby’s heartbeat is detectable, and Nebraska is debating a similar bill this spring.

Reynolds has a strong pro-life record, having signed several pro-life bills into law. In 2021, she joined a dozen pro-life governors in urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade and allow states to protect unborn babies from abortions again.