--- title: Iowa Lawmakers Won’t Pursue Anti-Abortion ‘Heartbeat’ Bill description: Find out why Iowa lawmakers decided to not pursue an anti-abortion heartbeat bill, opting to push forward a 20-week abortion ban instead. canonical: https://time.com/4718834/iowa-lawmakers-anti-abortion-heartbeat-bill/ author: Samantha Cooney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-30T19:19:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:05:18.948Z og:title: Iowa Lawmakers Won’t Pursue Anti-Abortion ‘Heartbeat’ Bill og:description: The legislation was called one of the strictest restrictions in the country og:url: https://time.com/4718834/iowa-lawmakers-anti-abortion-heartbeat-bill/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt674725d31756d26b/6988c0a8cf40a82263c47089/iowa-state-capitol-legislature.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Views Of Iowa Towns As The Caucus Approaches og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Iowa Lawmakers Won’t Pursue Anti-Abortion ‘Heartbeat’ Bill twitter:description: The legislation was called one of the strictest restrictions in the country twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt674725d31756d26b/6988c0a8cf40a82263c47089/iowa-state-capitol-legislature.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Iowa Lawmakers Won’t Pursue Anti-Abortion ‘Heartbeat’ Bill  by [Samantha Cooney](/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Mar 30, 2017 7:19 PM CUT  The Iowa State Capitol Building stands in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., on Friday, Jan. 29, 2016\. As the first in the nation Iowa caucuses approaches, where registering your vote isn't as simple as casting a ballot, the state is starting to thrum with nervous energy. Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images The Iowa State Capitol Building stands in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., on Friday, Jan. 29, 2016\. As the first in the nation Iowa caucuses approaches, where registering your vote isn't as simple as casting a ballot, the state is starting to thrum with nervous energy. Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesBloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images  by [Samantha Cooney](/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Mar 30, 2017 7:19 PM CUT Iowa lawmakers decided not to go forward with a bill that would have banned abortions as soon as a [fetal heartbeat](http://motto.time.com/4592812/ohio-senate-abortion-heartbeat-six-weeks/ "undefined") is detected, which can occur as early as six weeks. The _Globe Gazette_ [reported](http://globegazette.com/news/iowa/iowa-house-gop-drops-heartbeat-measure-in-favor-of-abortion/article%5Febb423ff-3650-530d-b636-67c3eeb08065.html "undefined") that a state house committee passed a 20-week abortion [ban](http://iowahouse.org/pdf/SF471.1863.pdf "undefined") instead, following concerns from other Republicans in the state legislature about the ‘fetal heartbeat’ bill, which critics [say](http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2017/03/28/heartbeat-iowa/99762224/ "undefined") would have been the strictest abortion restriction in the country. Republican State Rep. [Shannon Lundgren](http://www.iowahouserepublicans.com/members/shannon-lundgren "undefined"), who co-sponsored the legislation, said that the 20-week ban was more likely to stand up in court. “We would be protecting about 51 babies a year by going this route,” Lundgren told the _Globe Gazette_. “We are going to make an impact immediately.” The heartbeat bill also included amendments to require a woman to get an ultrasound 72 hours before an abortion and possible criminal penalties for doctors who perform abortions, [according](http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2017/03/28/heartbeat-iowa/99762224/ "undefined") to the _Associated Press_. Those provisions were also [removed](http://www.kdlt.com/2017/03/30/iowa-gop-lawmakers-drop-fetal-heartbeat-abortion-bill/ "undefined") from the bill that ultimately passed the committee. “Yesterday’s bill was probably the most extreme bill I’ve ever seen,” Democratic Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell told the _Globe Gazette_. “It’s still a bad bill, but \[the 20-week ban\] isn’t as bad as yesterday’s.” Some anti-abortion activists [oppose](http://motto.time.com/4593771/ohio-heartbeat-bill/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined") heartbeat bills because the legislation is unlikely to survive a legal battle. In December, Ohio’s state legislature passed its own heartbeat bill, which was later [vetoed](http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2016/12/13/John-Kasich-acts-on-abortion-bills.html "undefined") by Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Earlier this month, a Tennessee House subcommittee [delayed](http://motto.time.com/4697324/tennessee-delay-fetal-heartbeat-abortion-bill/?iid=sr-link3 "undefined") its own version of the legislation, which the state’s attorney general called “constitutionally suspect.” \[[The _Globe Gazette_](http://globegazette.com/news/iowa/iowa-house-gop-drops-heartbeat-measure-in-favor-of-abortion/article%5Febb423ff-3650-530d-b636-67c3eeb08065.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4718834/iowa-lawmakers-anti-abortion-heartbeat-bill/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4718834/iowa-lawmakers-anti-abortion-heartbeat-bill/"},"headline":"Iowa Lawmakers Won’t Pursue Anti-Abortion ‘Heartbeat’ Bill","datePublished":"2017-03-30T19:19:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:05:18.948Z","description":"The legislation was called one of the strictest restrictions in the country","url":"https://time.com/4718834/iowa-lawmakers-anti-abortion-heartbeat-bill/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt674725d31756d26b/6988c0a8cf40a82263c47089/iowa-state-capitol-legislature.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Cooney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt674725d31756d26b/6988c0a8cf40a82263c47089/iowa-state-capitol-legislature.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Views Of Iowa Towns As The Caucus Approaches","caption":"Views Of Iowa Towns As The Caucus Approaches","creditText":"Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4718834/iowa-lawmakers-anti-abortion-heartbeat-bill/","name":"Iowa Lawmakers Won’t Pursue Anti-Abortion ‘Heartbeat’ Bill"}}]}] ```