Iowa Legislature passes abortion restrictions, bill goes to governor's desk

A bill restricting abortion in Iowa is headed to the governor’s desk following a special legislative session Tuesday.House File 732, known as the "fetal heartbeat bill," would ban abortion once cardiac activity is detected. Doctors say this happens around six weeks of pregnancy. The House passed the bill in a 56-34 vote shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday. The bill then moved to the Senate, which passed the bill in a 32-17 vote at 11 p.m. Tuesday.Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds plans to sign House File 732 into law Friday during the Family Leadership Summit at the Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center in Des Moines.Once signed, the bill will go into effect immediately.The bill includes exemptions for rape, incest and medical emergencies that threaten the life of the mother. In the bill, rape would need to be reported within 45 days and incest would need to be reported within 140 days.Watch: Iowa lawmakers get personal during special session on abortionOn Tuesday morning, a public hearing was held to allow Iowans to weigh in on the proposed legislation. During the hearing, speakers alternated between supporters and opponents of the bill.Throughout the day, protestors were in the capitol rotunda, chanting, "Let us in. Let us speak." The room that the public hearing was held in has a max occupancy of 85 people, and lawmakers didn’t allow more members of the crowd in. Iowans speaking at the public hearing had to sign up ahead of time. Previous coverage: Iowa legislature holds special session on abortion restrictionsLawmakers spent more than five hours on the House and Senate floor locked in debate over access to abortion."There are women who will have husbands who will kill them if they carry a pregnancy to term. There are women who will have parents who will kick them out on the street if they carry a pregnancy to term," House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst said."When a life is determined to be over when a heartbeat ends, then why would a life not begin when a heartbeat is detected? Unless action is taken to end that heartbeat, it is a human life that deserves to live and have the opportunity to reach his or her full postential," Republican Sen. Chris Cournoyer said. A Des Moines Register-Mediacom Iowa Poll released in March showed a majority of Iowans were against restricting abortion. 21% of respondents said abortion should be legal in all cases and 40% of respondents said abortion should be legal in most cases.On Twitter, Konfrst said that of the Iowans who submitted comments online on the bill, 96% (1,025 Iowans) were against the bill, and 4% (37 Iowans) were for the bill. The proposed abortion ban is likely to face a long legal battle. According to the Associated Press, a lawsuit was filed Wednesday by The ACLU of Iowa, Planned Parenthood North Central States and the Emma Goldman Clinic to put the soon-to-be law on hold as the courts assess its constitutionality. A hearing is scheduled for Friday afternoon, according to court documents, just before the governor’s bill signing.Previously, the Iowa Legislature passed a "fetal heartbeat law" in 2018 that was ruled unconstitutional in 2019 by a Polk County judge.The legal battle continued as recently as last month when a deadlocked state supreme court decision failed to lift an injunction on the 2018 law and permanently blocked it from taking effect. More Coverage:Lawsuit filed to block enforcement of Iowa's new abortion restrictions'Fetal heartbeat bill': How each Iowa lawmaker voted in special session