Gov. Kim Reynolds' orders to suspend surgical abortions in Iowa during the coronavirus outbreak will face a legal challenge.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa filed a lawsuit Monday on behalf of several groups seeking an immediate halt to Reynolds' directive.
The lawsuit was filed in Johnson County District Court and names Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, Planned Parenthood Medical Director Jill Meadows and the Iowa City-based Emma Goldman Clinic as petitioners. Reynolds is listed as a respondent, alongside several state officials.
The lawsuit seeks an emergency injunction of Reynolds' order, announced late last week through a proclamation, that would stop surgical abortions in Iowa until mid-April. The lawsuit says the proclamation violates the Iowa Constitution.
Officials in Ohio, Texas and Mississippi have similarly ordered to suspend many abortion procedures during the virus outbreak.
More: The latest on COVID-19 in Iowa: 2 more deaths, another 88 positive tests reported
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds announces updates on COVID-19 at the State Emergency Operations Center in Johnston, IA on March 25, 2020. The state counted its first death from COVID-19 in Dubuque County as of Tuesday. (Photo: Olivia Sun/The Des Moines Register)
An emergency lawsuit was filed in federal court last week to overturn the order in Texas. Officials for Planned Parenthood Federation of America are involved in filing the lawsuit in Iowa, according to the ACLU of Iowa.
The ACLU lawsuit throws Iowa into litigation over women's reproductive health at a time that the state is responding to growing cases of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus.
Erin Davison-Rippey, executive director for Planned Parenthood North Central States, said in a statement that abortion is "an essential, time-sensitive medical procedure."
"We are in a critical moment for our state when we must come together to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, not politicize health care services that are constitutionally protected," she said. "Iowans are doing all they can to protect their families and communities during this pandemic and Planned Parenthood is focused on providing our patients with crucial services they need.”
Pat Garrett, a spokesman for Reynolds, released a statement a few hours after the lawsuit was file.
"Governor Reynolds is focused on protecting Iowans from an unprecedented public health disaster, and she suspended all elective surgeries and procedures to preserve Iowa’s health care resources," he said. "As the governor has said over and over, Iowans are in this together. We will be working in consultation with the Attorney General’s Office to defend the actions she’s taken."
Respondents in the lawsuit include Reynolds; Gerd Clabaugh in his official capacity as director of the Iowa Department of Public Health; Stephan Bayens in his official capacity as commissioner of the Iowa Department of Public Safety; the Iowa Board of Medicine; and Tom Miller in his official capacity as attorney general of Iowa.
A spokesman for Miller on Monday deferred comment to Reynolds' office.
Reynolds has been vocal for years about her opposition to abortion, and has signed into law legislation to restrict it.She defended her orders during a news conference Sunday and said it was not tied to personal ideology, but instead was part of efforts to preserve medical equipment amid a national shortage.
Reynolds added that it was a similar data-driven decision to closing bars and restaurants and limiting religious services or recommending school closures.
"Everyone is making sacrifices. Everyone," she said. "And so this is a decision that we're making on a daily basis, and that was no different."
Reynolds announced Thursday that she was extending a disaster proclamation to include a suspension of all non-essential and elective surgeries through April 16.
On Friday afternoon, her office confirmed through a one-sentence statement that the proclamation includes surgical abortion.
"Proclamation suspends all nonessential or elective surgeries and procedures until April 16th, that includes surgical abortion procedures," said Garrett in an email Friday.
The ACLU of Iowa, in its efforts for both "emergency temporary injunctive relief" and "permanent injunctive relief," wants the courts to stop enforcement of section one of Reynolds’ proclamation that describes the suspension on non-essential procedures.
The lawsuit says the governor's interpretation "flagrantly defies clear and binding constitutional precedent recognizing that patients have a protected liberty interest in terminating an unwanted pregnancy." The lawsuit cites a recent Iowa Supreme Court ruling that said women have a fundamental right to abortion under the Iowa Constitution.
https://www.press-citizen.com/story...orders-suspend-surgical-abortions/5086289002/
The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa filed a lawsuit Monday on behalf of several groups seeking an immediate halt to Reynolds' directive.
The lawsuit was filed in Johnson County District Court and names Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, Planned Parenthood Medical Director Jill Meadows and the Iowa City-based Emma Goldman Clinic as petitioners. Reynolds is listed as a respondent, alongside several state officials.
The lawsuit seeks an emergency injunction of Reynolds' order, announced late last week through a proclamation, that would stop surgical abortions in Iowa until mid-April. The lawsuit says the proclamation violates the Iowa Constitution.
Officials in Ohio, Texas and Mississippi have similarly ordered to suspend many abortion procedures during the virus outbreak.
More: The latest on COVID-19 in Iowa: 2 more deaths, another 88 positive tests reported
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds announces updates on COVID-19 at the State Emergency Operations Center in Johnston, IA on March 25, 2020. The state counted its first death from COVID-19 in Dubuque County as of Tuesday. (Photo: Olivia Sun/The Des Moines Register)
An emergency lawsuit was filed in federal court last week to overturn the order in Texas. Officials for Planned Parenthood Federation of America are involved in filing the lawsuit in Iowa, according to the ACLU of Iowa.
The ACLU lawsuit throws Iowa into litigation over women's reproductive health at a time that the state is responding to growing cases of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus.
Erin Davison-Rippey, executive director for Planned Parenthood North Central States, said in a statement that abortion is "an essential, time-sensitive medical procedure."
"We are in a critical moment for our state when we must come together to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, not politicize health care services that are constitutionally protected," she said. "Iowans are doing all they can to protect their families and communities during this pandemic and Planned Parenthood is focused on providing our patients with crucial services they need.”
Pat Garrett, a spokesman for Reynolds, released a statement a few hours after the lawsuit was file.
"Governor Reynolds is focused on protecting Iowans from an unprecedented public health disaster, and she suspended all elective surgeries and procedures to preserve Iowa’s health care resources," he said. "As the governor has said over and over, Iowans are in this together. We will be working in consultation with the Attorney General’s Office to defend the actions she’s taken."
Respondents in the lawsuit include Reynolds; Gerd Clabaugh in his official capacity as director of the Iowa Department of Public Health; Stephan Bayens in his official capacity as commissioner of the Iowa Department of Public Safety; the Iowa Board of Medicine; and Tom Miller in his official capacity as attorney general of Iowa.
A spokesman for Miller on Monday deferred comment to Reynolds' office.
Reynolds has been vocal for years about her opposition to abortion, and has signed into law legislation to restrict it.She defended her orders during a news conference Sunday and said it was not tied to personal ideology, but instead was part of efforts to preserve medical equipment amid a national shortage.
Reynolds added that it was a similar data-driven decision to closing bars and restaurants and limiting religious services or recommending school closures.
"Everyone is making sacrifices. Everyone," she said. "And so this is a decision that we're making on a daily basis, and that was no different."
Reynolds announced Thursday that she was extending a disaster proclamation to include a suspension of all non-essential and elective surgeries through April 16.
On Friday afternoon, her office confirmed through a one-sentence statement that the proclamation includes surgical abortion.
"Proclamation suspends all nonessential or elective surgeries and procedures until April 16th, that includes surgical abortion procedures," said Garrett in an email Friday.
The ACLU of Iowa, in its efforts for both "emergency temporary injunctive relief" and "permanent injunctive relief," wants the courts to stop enforcement of section one of Reynolds’ proclamation that describes the suspension on non-essential procedures.
The lawsuit says the governor's interpretation "flagrantly defies clear and binding constitutional precedent recognizing that patients have a protected liberty interest in terminating an unwanted pregnancy." The lawsuit cites a recent Iowa Supreme Court ruling that said women have a fundamental right to abortion under the Iowa Constitution.
https://www.press-citizen.com/story...orders-suspend-surgical-abortions/5086289002/
