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Iowa Supreme Court Issues Temporary Injunction On Mandatory Three-Day Waiting Period For Abortion

JOHN PEMBLE/IPR FILE

The Iowa Supreme Court has issued a temporary injunction that immediately blocks a provision of a newly signed law that mandates a three-day waiting period between two appointments before having an abortion.

After a lower court denied a request for an injunction on Thursday afternoon, Planned Parenthood of the Heartland and the ACLU of Iowa successfully appealed to the state's high court. The injunction was granted Friday morning, a couple hours after Gov. Terry Branstad signed the bill into law.

This is a very temporary injunction. The state has until Monday at noon to respond. Then the court will consider whether the injunction should remain in force.

A 20-week abortion ban, the new law's other major component, is unaffected.

Planned Parenthood argues this waiting period creates an undue burden on women seeking abortions, especially for poor or rural women, or women who may be at risk for domestic violence. The state says these burdens are created by society and not the new law.

The injunction enabled some of the 44 women who were scheduled for abortions on Friday to keep their appointments.