An Iowa Supreme Court ruling this summer allowed Iowa’s abortion ban to take effect. The law bans the procedure once cardiac activity is detected, which can be as early as six weeks of pregnancy.
As the so-called “fetal heartbeat” worked its way through Iowa’s court system, health care providers in neighboring states prepared to field more Iowa patients.
Even before Iowa’s current abortion ban went into effect, other restrictions, like a 24-hour waiting period, provided other obstacles to the procedure. That meant some residents sought out-of-state care. An estimated 940 Iowans sought abortions in Nebraska, Minnesota and Illinois in 2023, according to data from the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights.
Candace Gibson, the director of state policy at the Guttmacher Institute, told IPR that with Iowa’s new law, the number of Iowans seeking abortion care out of state would likely increase.
While abortion was not on the ballot in Iowa in 2024, two neighboring states, Missouri and Nebraska, put up ballot measures that could affect Iowans’ access to care if they go out of state.
In Missouri, voters passed Amendment 3, enshrining abortion rights until fetal viability – around 24 weeks – into the state constitution. Missouri was the first state to ban abortion after the fall of Roe v. Wade. The Republican-led law banned the procedure throughout pregnancy, with exceptions only to save a mother’s life or prevent permanent major injury.
When the new amendment goes into effect in December, Missourians will be able to seek an abortion through fetal viability, which is about 24 weeks of pregnancy. Several Missouri-based Planned Parenthoods have also filed a lawsuit to strike down other abortion restrictions, paving the path for much more access to abortion care for Missouri residents.
With the change, Iowans will have one more neighboring state to access abortion care if cardiac activity has been detected. Minnesota, Illinois and Kansas all have strong protections for abortion.
The vote went a different way in Nebraska, where voters opted to ban the procedure after the first three months of pregnancy.
The state had competing abortion measures on the ballot. One put forth by abortion rights supporters would have expanded abortion access until fetal viability. The one that voters passed was pushed by anti-abortion supporters and enshrines the state’s current 12-week ban into the state’s constitution – and will allow for future restrictions to be put in place.
IPR's Health Reporter Natalie Krebs contributed to this story.
