This week, Iowa’s “detectable fetal heartbeat” law went into effect. Previously, Iowa permitted abortions until 22 weeks of pregnancy, although there were still barriers to accessing care. Now, abortions are illegal once fetal cardiac activity has been detected on an ultrasound — usually between six to eight weeks of pregnancy, frequently before many people know they are pregnant.
While the law technically has exceptions for rape, incest, life of the mother and fatal fetal anomalies, they have been vaguely written and will to be difficult to implement, experts caution. For example, in the rape exception, survivors must adhere to specific rules for reporting the attack, like having exactly 45 days to report the attack to police or a doctor. As the Des Moines Register explains, the fatal fetal anomaly exception permits abortion when a fetal abnormality “is incompatible with life,” which is vague.
