GOP governor admits abortion ban she just signed is big waste of money

Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds admitted the law she signed effectively banning abortion will cost the state money. It’s little more than an expensive publicity stunt for which Iowa taxpayers will end up footing the bill.

Iowa’s new law is currently the most restrictive anti-choice law in the United States. Bills similar to the one passed by the Republican-led legislature and signed by Reynolds are known as “heartbeat bans.” These bills outlaw abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy — before most people even know they’re pregnant — with very few exceptions.

“Heartbeat bans” were ruled unconstitutional in Arkansas and North Dakota. The Supreme Court declined to review either of those cases.

Yet Iowa Republicans went ahead anyway, knowing that passing the bill would end up costing taxpayers money.

In a statement posed on her website, Reynolds wrote, “I understand and anticipate that this will likely be challenged in court, and that courts may even put a hold on the law until it reaches the Supreme Court.”

Indeed, the law will be immediately challenged by Planned Parenthood of the Heartland. In a statement, Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s executive vice president Dawn Laguens said pointedly, “Gov. Reynolds, we’ll see you in court.” And the group vowed to “fight for our patients rights and access to care with everything we’ve got.”

The American Civil Liberties Union has also said it would sue the state over the bill. And NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue labeled it a “sad day for women and families in Iowa.” She added, “We now look to the courts to defend our essential human rights.”

The state will have to spend legal fees to defend what is ultimately an unworkable law in court. The battle could rise to the federal level only for the law to be struck down like its predecessors.

Reynolds’ open admission that the use of state funds is for show runs in tandem to her re-election campaign.

Her spokeswoman said Reynolds is “100 percent pro-life and will never stop fighting for the unborn.”

Her fellow Republicans have said they hope Trump will appoint a Supreme Court Justice that would tip the balance of the court against reproductive freedom.

State Sen. Rick Bertrand told The New York Times, “We need to create vehicles that will allow the Supreme Court possibly to reach back and take this case, and to take up an anti-abortion case.”

Reynolds is desperate to satisfy anti-choice forces and prop up her re-election campaign. So she has chosen to waste Iowans’ tax dollars on a law that is a non-starter.

And she openly admitted it in front of her constituents and the country.