Iowa's six-week abortion ban will go into effect after a bombshell ruling from the state's Supreme Court.
It's a setback for the Biden administration's pro-abortion agenda, which Democrats have made central to the 2024 campaign.
The Iowa abortion law bans most abortions once a heartbeat is detected, with exceptions for rape, incest, and pregnancies that threaten a mother's life.
Planned Parenthood had asked the Iowa Supreme Court to reconsider its previous 4-3 ruling, but the court denied the request.
In light of the Supreme Court's decision, a judge ordered the ban to take effect next Monday.
Iowa's Republican governor Kim Reynolds signed the six-week ban in 2023 after the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs ruling, which clarified that abortion is not a federal right, sending the issue into the hands of state governments.
Despite Iowa's exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother, President Biden condemned Iowa's ban as "extreme and dangerous" when it was upheld in June. At the time, Biden said the ban "puts women's health and lives in jeopardy."
"Vice President Harris and I believe that women in every state must have the right to make deeply personal decisions about their health," Biden said.
In its initial June ruling, the Iowa Supreme Court narrowly held that a lower court had used the wrong constitutional test when it blocked the ban.
Applying a lower standard of scrutiny called "rational basis," the Iowa Supreme Court found that the heartbeat law is "rationally related to the state’s legitimate interest in protecting unborn life."
"The state’s interest in protecting the unborn can be traced to Iowa’s earliest days,” Justice Matthew McDermott wrote.
Planned Parenthood asked the Supreme Court to reconsider, putting the law on hold. But the Supreme Court's denial allows the law to take effect in the coming days.
“As a pro-life advocate. I am very thankful and very grateful that we have the decision that we do,” said Kristi Judkins, the director of Iowa Right to Life.
Democrats have campaigned heavily on protecting access to abortion while painting Republicans as extreme.
The focus on abortion is sure to be heightened in the months ahead, with Biden ending his re-election campaign and vice president Kamala Harris - an outspoken pro-abortion radical - seen as his likely replacement.
