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Six-Week Abortion Ban Takes Affect In IA

Abortion-rights advocates rally outside the Iowa capitol building in May. A law there banning abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected is one of several state laws on its way through the courts.
Barbara Rodriguez
/
AP
Abortion-rights advocates rally outside the Iowa capitol building in May. A law there banning abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected is one of several state laws on its way through the courts.

Iowa now bans most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy and before many women know they are pregnant. The law went into effect Monday in Iowa. It's one of four states that ban abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, with near-total bans at all stages of pregnancy in 14 others. Iowa’s Republican leaders have long fought for a ban and gained momentum after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Providers have shored up access in neighboring states and learned from others where bans went into effect more swiftly.