DES MOINES, Iowa – Polk County District Court Judge Celene Gogerty heard arguments and asked “piercing” questions Friday, Oct. 28, 2022, in an appeal from Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds to reinstate Iowa’s “Heartbeat Law,” a measure passed in 2018 that would ban elective abortions in the state after the preborn baby’s heartbeat can be detected.
The Heartbeat Law was originally blocked by a separate Polk County District Court judge’s injunction, which he based on a 2018 Iowa Supreme Court decision creating a “fundamental right” to abortion. The Supreme Court decision he based the injunction upon, however, was then overturned by this summer’s Iowa Supreme Court ruling, Planned Parenthood v. Reynolds IV.
Gov. Reynolds is arguing, therefore, since the injunction no longer has grounds to stand on, it should be lifted, allowing the Heartbeat Law to finally be enforced.
