Iowa's big abortion case and Blaine is a Zombie

Shane Vander Hart discusses the Iowa Supreme Court's decision in Planned Parenthood of the Heartland v. Reynolds and the Supreme Court's decision in Carson v. Makin.

It's hump day! 

I hope your week is going well. I wanted to write this newsletter last night and send it to you first thing in the morning.

The spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak.

For today's newsletter, I want to focus on two significant court decisions, one in Iowa and the other at the Supreme Court.

Iowa's abortion legal landscape has changed dramatically. 

In 2018, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled five to two in Planned Parenthood of the Heartland v. Reynolds (PPH II) that abortion was a fundamental right and any law restricting it required strict scrutiny. This decision went far beyond Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. However, even those decisions did not require strict scrutiny. 

The 2018 opinion essentially made Iowa one of the most pro-abortion states in the nation. No abortion law, including the state's 20-week abortion ban, was safe if challenged in court. The 2018 ruling struck down the state's 72-hour waiting period. The opinion also led to the fetal heartbeat abortion ban to be struck down in district court, and the Governor's office decided not to appeal because of the Iowa Supreme Court's ruling.

The court has changed dramatically since then. Only one justice from the majority, Brent Appel, remains on the court (and he is retiring in July).