In 2019, an low district court permanently enjoined the 6-week abortion ban (SF359) and protected Iowans right to access healthcare including abortion services in early pregnancy without government interference. In an earlier decision that year, the district court stated “autonomy and dominion over one’s body go to the very heart of what it means to be free”.
“Autonomy and dominion over one’s body go to the very heart of what it means to be free.”
Today, the low Supreme Court affirmed that decision by again denying the Governor and the legislature the right to make personal, life-defining decisions for Iowans.
The Iowa Supreme Court stood with the people of low in asserting that they and their doctors should be at the helm of their own decisions about pregnancy. The low Supreme Court asked the government to do what we have asked – keep out of the way of health care and out of the exam room. This decision shows faith and trust that Iowans and their physicians can make the medical decisions that are the safest and most appropriate for their unique needs.
The state motto of Iowa is “Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain.” Today, we ask that the state of Iowa will continue to maintain the rights and liberties of patients and their providers to make their own healthcare decisions in a way that affirms their individual medical, social, economic, psychological, and spiritual well-being. We emphatically support the rights of patients to choose the medical care that is best for them and access evidence-based healthcare without interference from the government.