By Dr. Emily Boevers
In the next 10 days, the seven justices of the Iowa Supreme Court will issue a ruling in the misnamed “Fetal Heartbeat” ban. This legislation is the third iteration forced through the Iowa legislature in six years. It seeks to ban abortion at the instance of embryonic cardiac impulse at six weeks, well before most women know they are pregnant. The Supreme Court decision will either allow the ban to become law or permanently block it. Either way, a large portion of the electorate will be anguished, disappointed or even angry.
I cannot say which way they will decide. So instead, I will paint a picture of two possible futures for my patients and for myself as a woman’s health physician (an obstetrician gynecologist). I care for women before, during and after pregnancy.