Iowa GOP pursues “heartbeat bill” to restrict abortions

Would become strictest abortion law in the nation.

DES MOINES, Iowa –Iowa Republicans are backing legislation banning abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected.

A GOP-led House committee was scheduled to vote Tuesday to add the provision to an abortion bill but adjourned before voting.

The bill is set to be taken up again today.

Among provisions in the amendment to the bill:

-A pregnant woman will need to wait 72 hours, or three days, before she can get an abortion.

-State health officials would be required to make available to a woman seeking an abortion reading material that encourages adoption. It would include language stating Iowa’s interest in promoting adoption over abortion.

-A woman seeking an abortion would need to sign documentation acknowledging she was told a heartbeat was detected and the statistical probability of bringing the pregnancy to term.

-A woman or her spouse could sue a doctor in certain instances for performing an abortion. Parents could sue the physician if the woman was a minor or unmarried.

-A legal clause would state that if a part of the bill is found invalid, it does not affect other provisions.

The provision could ban abortions as early as six weeks in a pregnancy. It would be the strictest ban in the U.S. and would face legal challenges.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich vetoed a similar measure late last year.

In January 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review lower court rulings overturning North Dakota’s so-called fetal heartbeat law.

Iowa’s bill would have to clear both GOP-controlled chambers before reaching Iowa’s Republican governor.

The original bill without the fetal heartbeat amendment would ban abortions at 20 weeks of pregnancy.