# Nearly All Abortions after 6 Weeks of Pregnancy to Be Banned in Iowa **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 4, 2018, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-all-abortions-after-6-weeks-of-pregnancy-to-be-banned-in-iowa/813603 "2018-05-04T21:57:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-all-abortions-after-6-weeks-of-pregnancy-to-be-banned-in-iowa/813603/1 "2018-05-04T21:57:35Z")
> [@](#): > > Gov. Kim Reynolds Friday signed legislation prohibiting nearly all abortions in Iowa after a fetal heartbeat is detected, making it the most restrictive abortion ban in the nation. [exceptions for rape, incest, fetal abnormalities, life of woman in danger] The Republican-controlled Legislature approved the bill, after last minute deals, threats and amendments, early Wednesday morning and in the wee hours Tuesday night… > > The law, which goes into effect on July 1 if not stopped by courts, will require physicians to conduct an abdominal ultrasound to test for a fetal heartbeat on any woman seeking an abortion. If a heartbeat is detected, a physician cannot perform an abortion. Experts said a fetal heartbeat can be detected about six weeks into a pregnancy and often before a woman realizes she’s pregnant. > > Iowa law has barred most abortions after 20 weeks under legislation enacted last year. Those provisions were already among the strictest abortion bans in the country. > **[The nation's strictest abortion ban is now law. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signs...](https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2018/05/04/abortion-ban-law-iowa-fetal-heartbeat/577443002/)** > > The law requires physicians to test for a fetal heartbeat on any woman seeking an abortion. If a heartbeat is detected, abortion is banned. Depressing news. Iowa used to be a moderate state politically. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-all-abortions-after-6-weeks-of-pregnancy-to-be-banned-in-iowa/813603/2 "2018-05-04T22:03:51Z")
Tomorrow’s news: Obviously unconstitutional anti-abortion law in Iowa overturned by first judge who sees it. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-all-abortions-after-6-weeks-of-pregnancy-to-be-banned-in-iowa/813603/3 "2018-05-04T22:07:48Z")
Hopefully ethical doctors have some variable hearing levels (or whatever sense is used to detect the heartbeat). ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-all-abortions-after-6-weeks-of-pregnancy-to-be-banned-in-iowa/813603/4 "2018-05-05T02:02:51Z")
Oh, this is much, much bigger than Iowa: > [@](#): > > The legislation is aimed at triggering a challenge to Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 landmark decision which established that women have a constitutional right to an abortion, activists on both sides of the issue said. > > Abortion opponents aim to land abortion questions back in front of the nation’s top court, where they believe the 5-4 conservative majority could sharply curtail abortion access or ban it outright. > > “We created an opportunity to take a run at Roe v. Wade - 100 percent,” said Republican state Senator Rick Bertrand of Sioux City, who said the legislation is designed to be “thrust into the court” that has become more conservative following President Donald Trump’s appointment of Justice Neil Gorsuch. [Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iowa-abortion/iowa-passes-fetal-heartbeat-abortion-ban-most-restrictive-in-us-idUSKBN1I3257). And what happens if SCOTUS says the Iowa law is constitutional? I have no idea. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-all-abortions-after-6-weeks-of-pregnancy-to-be-banned-in-iowa/813603/5 "2018-05-05T02:37:46Z")
Illegal abortions go up and/or more unwanted children are born into poverty so as to keep the right from being sad. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-all-abortions-after-6-weeks-of-pregnancy-to-be-banned-in-iowa/813603/6 "2018-05-05T02:41:03Z")
> [@](#): > > Abortion opponents aim to land abortion questions back in front of the nation’s top court, where they believe the 5-4 conservative majority could sharply curtail abortion access or ban it outright. I don’t think you’ll ever see Roe overturned. It would be political suicide if the Republicans succeeded. Enough women would oppose an overturn that the voting shift would end the GOP. So what we’ll see is an ongoing series of laws like this where states don’t outright prohibit abortions but put as many restrictions on it as they can get away with. Abortions will remain legal in theory while they become increasingly difficult to obtain in practice. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-all-abortions-after-6-weeks-of-pregnancy-to-be-banned-in-iowa/813603/7 "2018-05-05T02:56:26Z")
The Court is more conservative with Gorsuch plus 8 others than with Scalia plus the same 8 others? Am I reading that claim correctly? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-all-abortions-after-6-weeks-of-pregnancy-to-be-banned-in-iowa/813603/8 "2018-05-05T05:28:45Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > And what happens if SCOTUS says the Iowa law is constitutional? I have no idea. No mystery. Each state decides whether to set the limit at 6 weeks or some time after. ---
**Author:** ![UCBearcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/77aa72/32.png) [@UCBearcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UCBearcats)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-all-abortions-after-6-weeks-of-pregnancy-to-be-banned-in-iowa/813603/9 "2018-05-05T15:50:24Z")
There are women who don’t even realize they are pregnant at 6 weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-all-abortions-after-6-weeks-of-pregnancy-to-be-banned-in-iowa/813603/10 "2018-05-05T16:06:16Z")
Just imagine if you tried enacting legislation this restrictive for guns instead of abortions. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-all-abortions-after-6-weeks-of-pregnancy-to-be-banned-in-iowa/813603/11 "2018-05-05T17:02:13Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Just imagine if you tried enacting legislation this restrictive for guns instead of abortions. While I am pro-choice and I would like to see more gun control, I think this is a weak argument. Like it or not, the Second Amendment exists and creates an explicit right to own firearms. There is no such equivalent for abortions. The Ninth Amendment says that other implicit rights exist in the Constitution and the Supreme Court has the legal authority to recognize them as it did in Roe. But the Court also has the right to not recognize an implicit right in a way that it does not have in recognizing an explicit right. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-all-abortions-after-6-weeks-of-pregnancy-to-be-banned-in-iowa/813603/12 "2018-05-05T17:17:40Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Just imagine if you tried enacting legislation this restrictive for guns instead of abortions. You can’t buy guns more than six weeks after you become pregnant? ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-all-abortions-after-6-weeks-of-pregnancy-to-be-banned-in-iowa/813603/13 "2018-05-05T17:49:50Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > No mystery. Each state decides whether to set the limit at 6 weeks or some time after. Well, sure, if you want to state the obvious. But how _many_ states would pass “heartbeat laws”? Would there be mass protests and boycotts, and if so, would they have any impact on state legislation? After all, almost 60% of Americans support legal abortion, but only 35% of Republicans do, and most state legislatures are GOP-controlled. Yet some states with GOP-dominated legislatures don’t have any bans or restrictions on abortions, including Alaska, Colorado, Mississippi, and West Virginia. So no, beyond the obvious, I have no idea what’ll happen if SCOTUS upholds the Iowa heartbeat law. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-all-abortions-after-6-weeks-of-pregnancy-to-be-banned-in-iowa/813603/14 "2018-05-05T17:53:16Z")
And apparently AZ is looking at a law that says if you want an abortion, you have to declare why. Idiocy abounds ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-all-abortions-after-6-weeks-of-pregnancy-to-be-banned-in-iowa/813603/15 "2018-05-05T18:02:38Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > Well, sure, if you want to state the obvious. > > But how _many_ states would pass “heartbeat laws”? Would there be mass protests and boycotts, and if so, would they have any impact on state legislation? After all, almost 60% of Americans support legal abortion, but only 35% of Republicans do, and most state legislatures are GOP-controlled. Yet some states with GOP-dominated legislatures don’t have any bans or restrictions on abortions, including Alaska, Colorado, Mississippi, and West Virginia. > > So no, beyond the obvious, I have no idea what’ll happen if SCOTUS upholds the Iowa heartbeat law. Well, we can expect that a few states like SD, AL and MS will almost certainly follow suit. We can also be certain that many states like CA, OR, WA, ME, NH, VT, MA, CT, RI NY, NJ PA… will not. Perhaps I misunderstood your original point, but saying you have no idea what would happen misses some very obvious things that would/would not happen. In general, though, I think a drastic change in abortion law like this would not bode well for the Republicans, generally, even if it might be a boost for a few very conservative states. The anti-abortion crowd could go for something less drastic that would be more popular, like banning abortions after the 1st trimester, but something like 90% of all abortions happen before that time, so it wouldn’t make much of difference in the larger scheme of things from their perspective. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-all-abortions-after-6-weeks-of-pregnancy-to-be-banned-in-iowa/813603/16 "2018-05-05T18:06:09Z")
The USA has the highest rate of unintended pregnancies in the whole civilized world. [Half of all USA pregnancies are unintended or mistimed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unintended_pregnancy), (compared to under 20% in other civilised countries) mainly because of the low incidence of birth control use in the USA. Apparently, Iowa thinks that percentage should go up. I thought that would mean that sex would come at a much higher cost in the USA, and so, that the average number of lifetime sexual partners would be lower in the US. That is not the case though. [Someone in the USA will have , on average in a lifetime, 11 sexual partners, compared to 7 in the Netherlands.](https://www.statista.com/statistics/248856/average-number-of-sexual-partners-in-selected-countries-worldwide/) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-all-abortions-after-6-weeks-of-pregnancy-to-be-banned-in-iowa/813603/17 "2018-05-05T18:26:06Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > The USA has the highest rate of unintended pregnancies in the whole civilized world. [Half of all USA pregnancies are unintended or mistimed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unintended_pregnancy), (compared to under 20% in other civilised countries) mainly because of the low incidence of birth control use in the USA. > > Apparently, Iowa thinks that percentage should go up. > > I thought that would mean that sex would come at a much higher cost in the USA, and so, that the average number of lifetime sexual partners would be lower in the US. That is not the case though. [Someone in the USA will have , on average in a lifetime, 11 sexual partners, compared to 7 in the Netherlands.](https://www.statista.com/statistics/248856/average-number-of-sexual-partners-in-selected-countries-worldwide/) Coming soon: _Poll: Are you, personally, causing your national average to go up or down?_🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-all-abortions-after-6-weeks-of-pregnancy-to-be-banned-in-iowa/813603/18 "2018-05-05T20:50:26Z")
It’s good economic news for our southern Minnesota doctors & clinics. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2018, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-all-abortions-after-6-weeks-of-pregnancy-to-be-banned-in-iowa/813603/19 "2018-05-06T01:23:39Z")
I place a high value on life, and can understand the religious argument. But I place a higher value on the right of women to make decisions and the child to have a better quality of life. Canada does not limit abortion, but very few obstetricians would do one in the third trimester. Seems a reasonable compromise to me, and I’m glad this issue is much less politicized here, if only because legal abortions are far safer. Many women do not know they are pregnant at six weeks gestation, doctors often can’t hear a heartbeat that early. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2018, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-all-abortions-after-6-weeks-of-pregnancy-to-be-banned-in-iowa/813603/20 "2018-05-06T12:24:13Z")
Dr. Paprika: The Iowa legislation defines the cutoff of as the point when the doctor can hear the fetal heartbeat; I put 6 weeks in the title because many people, including myself, don’t know when this usually occurs. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-all-abortions-after-6-weeks-of-pregnancy-to-be-banned-in-iowa/813603.md?page=2)