The abortion laws in Iowa will remain unchanged after Governor Kim Reynolds announced she would not be filing an appeal in a case against it.
On Monday, Reynolds said she decided not to appeal an Iowa judge's January ruling that struck down Iowa's "fetal heartbeat" abortion law. If passed, the law would have banned an abortion once a fetal heartbeat was detected, as early as six weeks into pregnancy, making it the most restrictive anti-abortion law on the books in the United States.
The Iowa Governor said her choice not to file an appeal was "an extremely difficult decision" but is the right one for the state. Reynolds pointed to a Iowa Supreme Court ruling from last year that said the state's constitution grants the fundamental right to abortion.
Abortion opponents hoped that the legal challenge would make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court and overturn Roe v. Wade. Both the ACLU and Planned Parenthood challenged the law on state constitutional grounds, not national rights.
In his ruling last month, Judge Michael Huppert said the bill violated due process and equal protection provisions of the Iowa Constitution based on previous Iowa Supreme Court rulings.