Abortions in Iowa nosedive after Republicans pass fetal heartbeat law, report claims

DES MOINES – An East Coast think tank released a report this week claiming that abortions in Iowa nosedived after lawmakers passed a bill outlawing the barbaric practice after six weeks.

The Guttmacher Institute released the latest round of data on Thursday from its Monthly Abortion Provision Study, offering state and national abortion estimates from January 2023 through August 2024. The latest data set for the first time includes evidence on the impact of Iowa’s six-week abortion ban, which took effect on July 29.

The new data show a monthly average of 400 clinician-provided abortions in Iowa in the first six months of 2024. After the six-week ban went into effect on July 29, the number of abortions dropped to an estimated 250 in August, a decrease of 38% from the average over the first six months of the year. These numbers include procedural abortions as well as medication abortions obtained via telehealth either from providers based in Iowa or in states with abortion shield laws. The decline in abortions provided in August likely reflects that some Iowa residents who were not able to receive an abortion under the newly imposed law traveled out of state for care, while others may have been forced to continue their pregnancy.

“Iowa is the latest state to demonstrate the devastating impact that six-week bans have on abortion access. Whether in Florida, South Carolina, Georgia or now in Iowa, every time one of these bans is implemented, data show a sharp decrease in the number of clinician-provided abortions,” says Isaac Maddow-Zimet, Guttmacher Institute data scientist and project lead. “It’s also important to remember that even before the six-week ban, many Iowans were not able to access care in their communities. Our data show that in 2023, more than one in five Iowans who obtained an abortion traveled out of state to get abortion care and we can only expect that number to increase now.”

Access to medication abortion via telemedicine from providers in states with shield law protections has likely softened an even steeper decline in access following the six-week ban in Iowa and other states with similar bans.

“Access to abortion pills by mail has been an integral component of reproductive health care since the US Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision.” says Amy Friedrich-Karnik, Guttmacher Institute director for federal policy. “Any changes to federal law or policy that would decrease or eliminate this type of care, as laid out in Project 2025’s conservative presidential agenda, would most certainly exacerbate the abortion access crisis, especially in restrictive states like Iowa. This is something Guttmacher will be closely monitoring as the Trump-Vance administration takes office in 2025.”

“These data confirm what we expected when Iowa adopted a law banning abortion as early as six weeks. Iowans now face significant hardships when trying to access abortion and many are forced to travel out of state to get the essential health care they so desperately need. Our patients call us, full of fear and questions. Some come to our health center and leave devastated after finding out they are past the ban’s cutoff,” said Ruth Richardson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States. “But we were prepared for this moment and created a network of support that has connected hundreds of Iowans with abortion care since the ban was implemented. Our commitment is unwavering, despite the relentless attacks of politicians who want to claw their way into Iowans’ exam rooms.”