Don’t trash abortion rights in Iowa

Last week the Iowa Supreme Court deadlocked over the question of whether the court should overturn a five-year-old District Court ruling declaring a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy unconstitutional. Because Justice Dana Oxley recused herself from the case, the court tied 3-3, leaving the District Court ruling in place.

Justice Thomas Waterman wrote the opinion on behalf of the three justices that who were reluctant to toss out the ruling. In the opinion’s final paragraph, he referred to a 2021 ruling in which the court asserted that searching an individual’s trash without a warrant is unconstitutional.

“It would be ironic and troubling for our court to become the first state supreme court in the nation to hold that trash set out in a garbage can for collection is entitled to more constitutional protection than a woman’s interest in autonomy and dominion over her own body,” Waterman wrote.

We agree. And the three justices were correct in not yielding to the demands of Gov. Kim Reynolds, who demanded the court revive an unconstitutional law and set a new standard for judicial review when judging the constitutionality of abortion restrictions. Yes, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned abortion rights in its Dobbs ruling a year ago. But our state supreme court is not bound to concur.

Reynolds’ effort to persuade the court to make an unprecedented legal leap was a cynical ploy steeped in politics. The governor and Republicans who control the Legislature, knowing full well effectively banning abortion in Iowa is opposed by most Iowans, hoped the court would put a six-week ban in place without new legislative action. The misguided gambit failed.

Now, if the governor and GOP lawmakers want to pass draconian abortion restrictions, they’ll have to get their hands dirty. They’ll need to pass a bill and sign it into law. They’ll have to hear from Iowans who oppose curtailing reproductive rights. They’ll have to prove that a majority of Republican lawmakers are willing to take a tough vote curtailing the rights of their constituents.

And they’ll likely have to return to the courts and argue their legislation is constitutional.

It’s a heavy lift, as it should be.

Perhaps GOP lawmakers could forge ahead with a constitution amendment denying Iowans a fundamental right to abortion access. That would have to go to a vote of the people.

If it fails, Republicans could abandon their efforts to trash reproductive rights and focus on issues that reflect priorities the majority of Iowans want to see changed.

(319) 398-8262; editorial@thegazette.com