Iowa Republicans were optimistic that the state Supreme Court would reinstate a law that would’ve largely banned abortions in the Hawkeye State. Their expectations were wrong: Last month, the Iowa Supreme Court upheld a district court ruling and allowed abortion rights to continue.
As NBC News reported, GOP policymakers in the state wouldn’t let that stand.
Iowa Republicans passed a bill late Tuesday to ban most abortions after six weeks — a restrictive measure that would quickly remake the reproductive rights legal landscape in a key early voting state. The measure passed, mostly along party lines, just after 11 p.m. local time, capping a marathon one-day special legislative session that Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds called for the sole purpose of enacting “pro-life” legislation.
The practical implications of such a ban should be obvious: Many women don’t even know they’re pregnant six weeks after conception.
Nevertheless, Reynolds said she’ll sign the bill into law tomorrow. The GOP governor’s intention is to have the statewide abortion ban go into effect immediately, once she puts her signature on the measure during an appearance at an evangelical political event.
Whether she’s successful on this front remains to be seen: Reproductive rights proponents are already suing in the hopes of preventing Iowa’s new abortion ban from being implemented. As a separate NBC News report added, “The suit, filed in Iowa District Court for Polk County, seeks a temporary injunction. If it is granted, the law would be blocked while the legal challenge plays out in the court system.”
Whenever the topic comes up, I find it’s worth re-emphasizing an important detail: This health care issue is about people, not politics. To be sure, it’s a multifaceted discussion, but what matters most are the real-world consequences for real-world people, many of whom are being forced to endure horrific hardships, imposed by their Republican representatives, in the wake of the demise of Roe v. Wade.
But there’s obviously a political dimension to this, too: We’re talking about politicians, engaged in a political process, in pursuit of a political goal ahead of a political election. And with this in mind, I wonder if GOP officials in Iowa fully appreciate the prospects for a political backlash.
Iowa is, to be sure, a red state. This is one of those obscure details that surprises some people, but in the 2020 presidential election, Iowa was even less competitive than Texas. Ahead of the 2024 cycle, as observers draw up lists of battleground states, few are including the Hawkeye State on their lists of competitive contests. But let’s not forget that Iowa, in the recent past, had more of a purple hue. Barack Obama won the state twice — and in 2008, he won Iowa by nearly double digits. Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin was a giant in state politics. As recently as the 2018 midterm election cycle, Iowans elected four U.S. House members, and three of them were Democrats. That changed quickly, obviously. Iowa currently has a Republican governor, Republican-led legislature, and a six-member congressional delegation filled exclusively with Republicans. How in the world would the GOP lose its grip on the state? Well, perhaps it might ram through an abortion ban that ignores the fact that 61% of Iowans believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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