SCOTUS reversing Roe v. Wade won’t ban abortion in Iowa immediately

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - If the Supreme Court of the United States reverses Roe v. Wade as a draft obtained by Politico alleges, abortion would not become illegal in Iowa immediately.

A woman’s right to have an abortion, which is federally protected in the 1973 decision, is also protected in the Iowa Constitution after an Iowa Supreme Court case from 2018.

Sara Riley, who is a lawyer at Tom Riley Law Firm, said the Supreme Court appears to be giving this issue back to the states to decide. She said Iowa’s Supreme Court has already said the right to have an abortion is protected under the due process and equal protection clause in the state’s constitution.

“There are some states where it’s already written in their constitution that they have the right to have an abortion,” Riley said. “So as the opinion is written, the federal government can’t come in and say you don’t have the right to protect abortion.”

She said the right to have an abortion in Iowa could disappear if the Iowa Supreme Court could reverse its decision or amend the state constitution. A potential case to reverse the decision was argued in February after Gov. Kim Reynolds appointed new justices, but no decision has been announced.

Republicans are working on a constitutional amendment, which would eventually require a state-wide election.

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