Iowa's strict abortion law went into effect Monday, immediately prohibiting most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant.
Iowa's Republican leaders have been seeking the law for years and gained momentum after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. The Iowa Supreme Court also issued a ruling that year saying there was no constitutional right to abortion in the state.
"There is no right more sacred than life," Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds said in June. "I'm glad that the Iowa Supreme Court has upheld the will of the people of Iowa."
Now, across the country , four states ban abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, and 14 states have near-total bans at all stages of pregnancy.
Iowa's abortion providers have been fighting the new law but still preparing for it, shoring up abortion access in neighboring states and drawing on the lessons learned where bans went into effect more swiftly.
