This Could Hold Things Up
The Iowa legislative session has been moving along rather smoothly…sure, those on the left are not happy about some of the bills that have been passed, but they’ll have to start winning more elections in order to change that. But from a calendar standpoint, there are not many huge hurdles standing between lawmakers and adjournment on schedule.
Well, there might be one thing, and it depends on how the Iowa Supreme Court rules.
The legislature passed, and the governor signed, a so-called “fetal heartbeat” bill in 2018. The bill would prohibit abortion, except in case of rape, incest, or live of the mother, once a fetal heartbeat is detected. That’s at around six weeks. The “fetal heartbeat” law was challenged and held unenforceable because of an Iowa Supreme Court interpretation that right to abortion was included within privacy sections of the state constitution.
When that interpretation was overturned last year by the court, following the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, advocates of the fetal heartbeat law sought to have it reinstated…since the premise under which it was held invalid had changed.
The Iowa Supreme Court hears arguments on that point this week. If the Court rules that the 2018 law should go into effect…well, that’s that. But if not…GOP lawmakers in Des Moines say they are ready to act depending on what the Court says.
Various lawmakers have told us on KXEL that they are not reintroducing the heartbeat bill until they get guidance from the Court…which makes sense, because any new piece of legislation will be immediately challenged.
But depending on how quickly the Court acts, and depending on what the Court does…Republicans in the statehouse will be under pressure to stick around and fix things before another half year or more passes. And that could be the unexpected item that delays adjournment. Of course, the governor can always call lawmakers into special session, but that’s obviously less desirable than resolving things in regular order.
So for those who thought the tough stuff was over in the Iowa House and Senate…you might have to think again.
