The issues before the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday in the case of United States v. Skrmetti were of historic importance. Would the court adhere to its decision issued four years ago finding federal protections against discrimination on the basis of sex apply to transgender people as a matter of equal protection before the law? […]
Supreme Court
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa Supreme Court upholds near-total abortion ban, creating ‘a constitutional rule that gives no weight to a woman’s autonomy over her body’
Six years ago, the Iowa Supreme Court found the state constitution guaranteed the right to an abortion. “Autonomy and dominion over one’s body go to the very heart of what it means to be free,” then-Chief Justice Mark Cady wrote in the 2018 decision striking down a medically unnecessary 72-hour waiting period for an abortion […]
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Rep. Hinson, Rep. Feenstra and AG Bird push U.S. Supreme Court to restrict medication abortions
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Tuesday on whether to allow a preliminary injunction suspending the FDA’s 2021 decision easing restrictions on the availability of mifepristone, a prescription medication used in medical abortions. The injunction, issued by a federal judge in Texas in April 2023 and subsequently narrowed by the Fifth Circuit Court of […]
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Gov. Reynolds calls a special session of the Iowa legislature to pass a new abortion ban
On Wednesday afternoon, Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a proclamation calling the Iowa Legislature into a special session that starts at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday for “the sole and single purpose” of passing what would be one of the country’s strictest bans on abortion. “I believe the pro-life movement is the most important human rights cause […]
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‘Healing is fundamentally a political act’: Future doctors grapple with the encroachment of anti-abortion laws on Iowa health care
Medical students in Iowa watched with growing concern as the Iowa Supreme Court decided in June to no longer recognize the right to abortion as a fundamental right. A week later the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Both of the state’s medical schools, the University of Iowa’s Carver College of Medical and Des […]
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A legal guide to self-managed abortion in Iowa, even if a six-week ban is passed
Note: The term “woman” and she/her pronouns are occasionally used in this article to refer to a hypothetical pregnant person seeking abortion. In reality, this person could be a woman, child, nonbinary person or transgender man. The recent Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health overturning Roe v. Wade left the right to […]
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Tyson asks U.S. Supreme Court to shield it from COVID-19 lawsuits in Iowa courts
Faced with court rulings that say a Trump administration directive doesn’t protect Tyson Foods from liability caused by workers’ deaths due to COVID-19, the food giant is now asking the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on the matter. Arguing that recent court rulings against the company will have “drastic consequences for the next national […]
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‘This is not the end. The end is when we win’: Thousands rally at the Iowa State Capitol for abortion rights
“All of us are here today to stand in solidarity with all of you, as we stand with child-bearing people all over the country,” Luana Nelson-Brown told the more than 2,000 people gathered on the West Terrace of the Iowa State Capitol on Sunday afternoon for the Iowans for Reproductive Justice Rally. Nelson-Brown is the […]
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Emma Goldman Clinic’s founding mothers reflect on ‘the beauty of choice,’ half a century of Roe and the future of abortion care
Deb Nye was 23 when she heard the news: The Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade had just affirmed a person’s right to choose to have an abortion. It was late January 1973, and light snow covered the ground. She ran two blocks to the University of Iowa College of Law building, crossing over […]
Posted inEastern Iowa
Watch: Hundreds protest Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in Iowa City
“I want to encourage you to gain strength and purpose from this collective body here today,” Francine Thompson, executive director of the Emma Goldman Clinic, told the hundred gathered at the Pentacrest on Friday night, June 24. “Because we have a long, hard fight ahead of us.” The protest in response to the Republican-appointed majority […]
Posted inEastern Iowa Community/News
The U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, rescinding a right for the first time in its history
“As of today, this Court holds, a State can always force a woman to give birth, prohibiting even the earliest abortions,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote, summing up what the Republican-appointed majority on the U.S. Supreme Court did in its decision Friday that stripped Americans of the federally protected right to abortion. “A State can thus […]
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Gov. Reynolds avoids answering questions about whether she would support banning abortion ‘without exceptions’
Gov. Kim Reynolds avoided giving a direct answer about whether she wants to outlaw abortions without any exceptions on Wednesday afternoon. As Reynolds was exiting a meeting in Marion’s Thomas Park, KCRG reporter Ethan Stein asked about her abortion stance. “Do you want the legislature to send you a bill that would ban abortion in […]
