Week in Iowa, July 10, 2023: Recap of news from across the state

Reynolds signs abortion restriction into law: Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill into law banning abortions as soon as cardiac activity can be detected, which can be as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. The bill was challenged in court before it was signed, and was expected to be quickly blocked as the Iowa Supreme Court weighs its constitutionality.

Reynolds signed the law at the Family Leadership Summit, a Christian conservative gathering that featured a handful of Republican presidential candidates. Some Republican presidential contenders, including biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former Vice President Mike Pence, applauded Republicans for passing the law during the one-day session; others maintained some distance, as abortion is expected to be a divisive general election issue.

Iowans demonstrate for and against abortion rights during special session: Shouts rang out from the Senate gallery when Republicans passed a restrictive abortion ban Tuesday, prompting the State Patrol to remove people from the chamber. Throughout the day, people demonstrating for abortion rights led chants and rallied in opposition to the bill lawmakers passed. Anti-abortion advocates also demonstrated, and the two groups occasionally clashed.

Nikki Haley nabs state senator endorsement: Iowa Republican state Sen. Chris Cournoyer, of LeClaire, endorsed former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley in the Republican presidential primary. Cournoyer said Haley's history — of initially being uninvolved in politics but coming into state government after seeing a problem she wanted fixed — resonated with Cournoyer, who started her career in computer science before getting elected to the Iowa Senate.

Trump lashes out at Gov. Kim Reynolds: Former President Donald Trump claimed credit for Gov. Kim Reynolds' 2018 election victory and attacked her for staying neutral in the 2024 Republican presidential primary this past week. Trump made the comments on Truth Social after a New York Times article detailed growing strains between him and Reynolds.

Reynolds and other top Republicans have committed to not endorsing in the primary, but Reynolds has not been present at Trump's last two events in Iowa. The attack drew condemnation from some Republican operatives, and led an Iowa senator to withdraw his endorsement for Trump. Trump continues to lead polling both nationally and in Iowa in the crowded Republican field.

Documentary captures human side of RAGBRAI: A documentary directed by Des Moines Register journalists Courtney Crowder and Kelsey Kremer chronicling the newspaper's annual bike ride debuted in theaters last week. "Shift: The RAGBRAI Documentary" follows several riders on their journey across the state, telling their unique stories.

OB-GYN care threatened by abortion law: Iowa OB-GYN residents told lawmakers Tuesday the restrictive abortion ban they passed would lead them to practice outside the state and turn away prospective OB-GYN students and residents from Iowa, which already has a severe shortage. The University of Iowa has the state's only OB-GYN residency, and officials said they will work to keep it compliant in light of the new law.

They said …

“The voices of Iowans and their democratically elected representatives cannot be ignored any longer, and justice for the unborn should not be delayed. As a pro-life governor, I am also committed to continuing policies to support women in planning for motherhood, promote the importance of fatherhood, and encourage strong families." — Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds on abortion ban

“Doctors won’t know what to do. Patients won’t know what to do. There will be questions. And most importantly, there will be inconsistent care across the state because different doctors will interpret it differently. Different patients will receive different kinds of care.” — Iowa House Democratic leader Jennifer Konfrst on abortion ban

Odds and ends

Kari Lake stumps: 2022 Republican Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, who backed former President Donald Trump's discredited claims of election fraud and sought to overturn her own 2022 election loss, was in Iowa to campaign for Trump this past week. Lake is an Iowa native and former Quad Cities TV news anchor.

Iowa universities fundraising: Iowa State University broke its external fundraising record for research with more than $300 million coming to the university for that purpose over the last year. Still, ISU's overall external funding levels were below last year's, as were the external funding numbers for the University of Iowa.

Water cooler

Drag race lawsuit: The parents of an Iowa City woman who was killed in a May 27 crash argued in a lawsuit that two teens were drag racing, which led to her death. The accused teens have not been charged in the crash, which still is under investigation by the Iowa State Patrol.

Iowa business ranking: CNBC ranked Iowa the 23rd state for business — tied with Kansas — in its 2023 rankings published last week. The state ranked first in cost of living but carried lower rankings in access to capital and economy.