Iowa has passed a controversial bill banning most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy - amid outcry from critics who plan to challenge the law.
The bill passed on Tuesday with exclusively Republican support amid vocal objections from Democratic lawmakers and abortion advocates protesting at the Iowa Capitol in Des Moines.
Protesters in the gallery booed and yelled “shame” to state senators in the minutes after the bill was approved, around 11pm on Tuesday.
Governor Kim Reynolds ordered the special session of Iowa’s Republican-led Legislature, after the state Supreme Court declined in June to reinstate a practically identical law that she signed in 2018.
“The Iowa Supreme Court questioned whether this legislature would pass the same law they did in 2018, and today they have a clear answer,” Ms Reynolds said in a statement.
“The voices of Iowans and their democratically elected representatives cannot be ignored any longer, and justice for the unborn should not be delayed.”
Abortion is currently legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks of pregnancy. The legislation will take immediate effect when it is signed by Ms Reynolds on Friday.
It will prohibit almost all abortions once cardiac activity can be detected, which is usually around six weeks of pregnancy and before many women know they are pregnant.
Preparations were already underway to quickly file legal challenges in court and get the measure blocked, once Ms Reynolds signs it into law.
Planned Parenthood North Central States said it will refer patients out of state if they’re scheduled for abortions in the next few weeks.
There are limited circumstances under the new measure that would allow for abortion after that point in a pregnancy where cardiac activity is detected — such as rape, if reported to law enforcement or a health provider within 45 days; incest, if reported within 145 days; if the foetus has a foetal abnormality “incompatible with life”; and if the pregnancy is endangering the life of the pregnant woman.
Members of the public spoke both for and against the bill at Tuesday’s meeting.
Sara Eide of the Iowa Catholic Conference encouraged lawmakers to vote in favour.
“The unborn child is a distinct human life with her own value, with her own DNA, and with her own right to life and right to legal protections,” she said. “As a state and as a society, we should commit ourselves to protect all vulnerable populations wherever we find them.”
Hilary McAdoo, a fertility nurse, said her two daughters motivated her to voice her opposition on Tuesday. “Just because a person has the ability to become pregnant does not mean they should be forced to become a mother,” she said.
“The people before me want to govern women’s bodies without understanding how they work.” Ms McAdoo called the six-week cut-off “impossible and irresponsible.”
Most Republican-led states have drastically limited abortion access in the year since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade and handed authority on abortion law to the states.
More than a dozen states have bans with limited exceptions and one state, Georgia, bans abortion after cardiac activity is detected. Several other states have similar restrictions that are on hold pending court rulings.
