The Iowa Supreme Court, the state’s highest judicial authority, ruled that the state’s constitution does not guarantee the right to an abortion, paving the way for legislators to severely limit or ban abortions if federal protections are lifted.
The decision, issued Friday, invalidates a ruling by the same body just four years earlier that found that abortion is a fundamental right guaranteed by both Iowa and federal law. The court has grown more conservative in the years since, and is now composed almost entirely of Republican appointees, according to The Associated Press.
