An Iowa judge has permanently blocked a 2020 law that required pregnant women to wait 24 hours before an abortion procedure.
In June 2020, Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) signed the measure into law, which mandated abortion patients schedule an additional appointment at least 24 hours prior to the procedure.
Judge Mitchell Turner said Monday in a 28-page ruling that the law was in violation of Iowa's constitution because it was passed as an amendment to an unrelated measure.
He also ruled that the measure mirrored a 72-hour waiting period on abortions that was blocked in 2018 by the Iowa Supreme Court.
The measure blocked Monday, Amendment H-8314, was an addition to a bill about removing life-sustaining procedures from minors.
The amendment would require women to receive an ultrasound and certain information mandated by the state state-mandated. They would then have to wait a minimum of 24 hours prior to an abortion.
Following the passage of the bill last summer, Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit to block the legislation.
Turner said in his ruling that, following videos from the Iowa legislature being reviewed, it was made apparent that the measure violated the rule of the state’s constitution that requires an act to only address one issue.
Upon review of both the Iowa Senate and House videos, it is abundantly clear to this Court that what occurred in the Iowa Legislature on June 13th and 14th, 2020 was exactly such ‘tricks in legislation’ and ‘mischiefs’ that the single-subject rule exists to prevent.
A temporary injunction was previously granted in order to block the measure on June 30. Turner’s ruling will permanently impose a ban while also canceling a trial in the case, which was expected to take place next January.
Abortions in most cases are banned in Iowa after 20 weeks, according to the Des Moines Register.
Last month, the Iowa legislature passed a constitutional amendment that said an abortion is not a fundamental right. The measure will need to be passed again in 2023 or 2024 before voters can vote on it.
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