Iowa OB/GYN concerned about abortion law exceptions

DES MOINES, Iowa (Gray Television Iowa Capitol Bureau) - Iowans are still waiting to hear when the state’s abortion law will take effect. The Iowa Supreme Court has yet to decide whether or not they’re going to rehear the case. If they say no, the case will get kicked to the District Court where a judge will set the date on when to lift the pause. Friday the judge told attorneys in the case he’ll give a few days notice before lifting the injunction.

The law does have exceptions for rape, incest, fetal abnormality, and to save the life of the mother. Dr. Francesca Turner, an OB/GYN in Central Iowa and Co-Founder of Iowans for Health Liberty says the exception to save the life of the mother isn’t medical terminology.

She says that’ll create a gray area for physicians. “Sometimes people might come in with an inevitable miscarriage with a heartbeat, but there can be bleeding very profusely and losing a lot of blood. How much blood do they have to lose? How hypotensive do they have to be? How many units of blood do I have to give them, like where’s that line?,” Turner said.

Turner says it’s too early to tell if the exceptions will put Iowa doctors under stress when trying to decide when to perform an abortion, but says physicians in other states with similar abortion laws do report increased stress. “There are definitely times where things come up that are unusual or complicated and so sometimes you don’t have a very long time to make those decisions,” Turner said,

The Iowa Board of Medicine will enforce penalties for doctors who violate the law. That could range from fines to physicians losing their licenses. “The threat of losing your livelihood or having a lawsuit is very chilling,” Turner said.

Turner says the law puts her in a tough situation because every patient and their pregnancy is different. “There are things I see all the time that I’ve never seen before in 26 years that you’ve read about but now you see it. And you can’t legislate that. Pregnancy is just too complicated,” Turner said.

Turner says it’s too early to tell if the law will push physicians out of the state since it hasn’t taken effect yet. “When you look at other states with abortion restrictions, they have decreased applicants to their medical schools. They have decreased applications to their residency programs, and all residency programs, not just OB/GYN,” Turner said.

In a statement, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds says the state is committed to helping women plan for motherhood, and promoting fatherhood. She goes on to say the state will continue to develop policies that promote strong families, such as protecting In Vitro fertilization and promoting adoption.

--

Conner Hendricks covers state government and politics for Gray Television-owned stations in Iowa. Email him at conner.hendricks@gray.tv; and follow him on Facebook at Conner Hendricks TV or on X/Twitter @ConnerReports.

Copyright 2024 KCRG. All rights reserved.