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Iowa Supreme Court upholds state鈥檚 6-week abortion ban

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Iowa Supreme Court upholds state鈥檚 6-week abortion ban

The Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday, June 28, to uphold the state鈥檚 abortion ban. Pictured is the Iowa Judicial Branch Building in 2022.

(CNN) 鈥� The Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday to uphold the , which prohibits most abortions in the state as early as six weeks into pregnancy.

The ruling听will dramatically restrict听abortions in Iowa, where women were able to seek the procedure for up to 22 weeks as legal challenges played out against the six-weekban.

The ban听will prohibit听physicians from providing most听abortions after early cardiac activity can be detected in a fetus or embryo, commonly as early as six weeks into pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant.听It includes听exceptions for miscarriages, when the life of the pregnant woman is threatened and fetal abnormalities that would result in the infant鈥檚 death. Exceptions will also be made for pregnancies resulting from rapes reported within 45 days and incest reported within 140 days.

The case is part of the larger political fallout around the issue of abortion since the听US听Supreme Court听听in June 2022. The high court ruling allowed abortion rights to be determined by state governments.听听were quickly met with challenges from abortion rights groups, and many are still being litigated, including in Utah, Ohio and Wyoming.听And on Thursday, the听听of Idaho鈥檚 strict abortion law.

Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds celebrated the ruling Friday, saying she is glad the state鈥檚 high court 鈥渦pheld the will of the people.鈥�

鈥淎s the heartbeat bill finally becomes law, we are deeply committed to supporting women in planning for motherhood, and promoting fatherhood and its importance in parenting,鈥� Reynolds said in a , vowing to protect , which has become another flashpoint in the post-Roe abortion landscape.

The Iowa ban was passed in July 2023 during a special legislative session called solely听to pass abortion restrictions, after the state Supreme Court declined on a similar 2018 bill. The 2023 ban from the local Planned Parenthood and American Civil Liberties Union chapters, along with other reproductive rights advocates. A state district court three days after it went into effect.

in a brief that Iowa鈥檚 constitution 鈥渄oes not recognize a fundamental right to an abortion鈥� and as a result, the abortion ban doesn鈥檛 鈥渋mplicate a fundamental right.鈥� Thus, they claimed that the court must only establish whether the legislation has a 鈥渞ational basis.鈥�

Reproductive rights advocates said that a law that restricts abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy will prevent most Iowans from accessing an abortion as many people do not know they are pregnant at that point.

Even if some women determine they are pregnant before six weeks, they will face 鈥渟ubstantial logistical and financial obstacles in arranging to have an abortion in Iowa before their time runs out,鈥� attorneys for Planned Parenthood and the ACLU local chapter .

With the ruling, Iowa joins nearly two dozen states that have banned or limited access to abortion. Florida, Georgia and South Carolina have similar six-week restrictions in place.

This story has been updated with additional details.

CNN鈥檚 Shania Shelton contributed to this report.

The-CNN-Wire

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