Iowa Town Outlaws Abortion; Is 1st In State To Enact Ban

WILLEY, IA — As news broke Monday night of a leaked Supreme Court opinion that could overturn federal protections for abortion, a small Iowa city voted to ban abortion within its limits, according to the Carroll Times Herald.

The City Council in Willey, population 101, was met with applause and prayer after its unanimous approval of the ordinance, which aims to outlaw abortion and delivery of certain drugs that induce abortion within the city, the Times Herald reported.

Willey, which does not have a medical center, is the first city in Iowa to take such a step, the Times Herald reported, adding the ordinance protects women who seek or carry out an abortion, but would fine others involved $500. The measure passed after Mark Lee Dickson, director of Right To Life of East Texas, traveled to Carroll County to help organize anti-abortion advocates, according to the Times Herald, which noted that Dickson expressed concern about “turning the mailbox into an abortion facility.”

Monday’s decision in Willey came about the same time Politico published information regarding a leaked draft majority opinion suggesting the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to strike down the 1973 ruling of Roe v. Wade. Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday confirmed the authenticity of the draft and called for an investigation into the source of the leak, which he described as an “egregious breach of trust.”

If the court does overturn Roe, a patchwork of state laws will determine where women can get an abortion. Right now, 22 states — including Iowa — have laws on their books to ban or restrict abortion, and four more appear poised to do so, according to the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion rights policy group.