One of the most contested pieces of legislation from the 2018 Iowa General Assembly has led to an even bigger proposal, as Senate Republicans have proposed a constitutional amendment following the ruling that the “fetal heartbeat” bill is unconstitutional.

The ruling was made by Polk County Judge Michael Huppert, who cited that the Iowa Constitution states under the Equal Protection Clause, a woman in Iowa has a fundamental right to an abortion. The same code was cited in a ruling last year that struck down the 72-hour wait period for abortions bill that passed in 2017. Having been thwarted with their legislation twice in two years, Republicans at the State House, led by State Senator Jake Chapman of District 10 — the author of the “fetal heartbeat” bill — have set into motion an amendment to the state’s constitution.

The amendment would change the code to read, “The constitution of the State of Iowa does not secure or protect a right to an abortion, or require the funding of an abortion.” Chapman says the amendment is not specific to the “fetal heartbeat” bill, but as he phrases it, will instead put the legislative powers in the matter back into the hands of the elected legislators. “What we have is an Iowa Supreme Court disregarding what our founders of Iowa’s Constitution intended, and creating their own law from the bench. That is fundamentally wrong. They do not have the enumerated powers to legislate from the bench. And so this amendment puts the power back into the hands of the legislature to decide what our abortion laws are going to be.”

In order to be ratified, the proposed amendment will need to pass through two general assemblies, followed by a statewide vote on the matter. That puts the timeline at two years from now at the earliest. Chapman is confident the amendment will pass easily through the Senate this year, and adds that House Republicans are working on a companion bill to help it pass through there as well. Meanwhile, Democrats in the Legislature have universally praised Huppert’s ruling, saying he properly interpreted the Iowa Constitution and rescued the state from the most restrictive abortion law in the United States.

To learn more about the current Iowa legislative session, listen to Monday’s Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program on air and at RaccoonValleyRadio.com.