Iowa

February 19, 2024 Update

Efforts are underway to place abortion-related ballot measures to amend the state constitution in Iowa declaring that the state constitution does not require allocation of public funding for abortion care as well as not recognizing or securing a right to abortion (awaiting vote in state legislature)

Iowa is considering new laws to define individuals based on their reproductive anatomy and would specify an individual be identified as “man” or “woman” if they possess, previously possessed, will possess, or would have possessed a reproductive system that produces, transports, and utilizes eggs or sperm for fertilization and prohibits the use of the term “gender identity”

August 17, 2023 Update

Less than twelve hours after Iowa passed new abortion restrictions to ban most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, the ACLU and abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, challenged the law in district court. The case is pending.

March 2023 Report

Efforts to Ban Medication Abortion

In Iowa, where abortion remains legal until 22 weeks after a woman’s last menstrual period, some policymakers sought this session to make it a felony for anyone, including physicians, to distribute abortion pills. Specifically, proposed legislation would make it a felony with punishment of up to a decade in jail for distributing abortion pills (with a carve out protecting patients who take the pills). This and other abortion-related measures failed in this year’s session, where GOP leaders announced a plan to wait for the outcome of a case before the Iowa Supreme Court that could clear the way for a six-week abortion ban in the state.

State Legislation and Reproductive Medicine

The ASRM Center for Policy and Leadership (CPL) has released reports concerning States' Abortion Laws and their Potential Implications for Reproductive Medicine. Current as of the date of publication, the reports provide an overview of states’ abortion laws, together with analysis of potential implications for reproductive medicine, including IVF.