Court hears Iowa's constitution 'silent' on abortion (Webcam Abortions)

WND ^ | December 03, 2014 | Bob Unruh

[Morgana]

Abortion never was mentioned in the text of the Iowa Constitution. Nor was it discussed during the debates that led to the adoption of the document. While yet a territory in 1839, lawmakers prohibited all abortions, “no matter the reason.” And after statehood, in 1858, the legislature made abortion a crime “at any stage of pregnancy.”

“Abortion was so contrary to Iowa’s history, legal traditions and practices that until Roe v. Wade, the Iowa Supreme Court regularly affirmed convictions for performing abortions, without any hint that the convictions violated any provisions of the Iowa Constitution,” explained a friend-of-the court brief filed in a case challenging the legality of abortions directed by physicians through video conferencing.

So why is Planned Parenthood claiming in an appeal to the state Supreme Court that abortion is a state constitutional right?

“The real issue is that Planned Parenthood does not like the Iowa Board of Medicine’s decision to essentially outlaw webcam abortions,” said Matt Heffron, an Omaha, Nebraska, attorney for the Thomas More Society, a nationwide legal team that filed a brief in the fight on behalf of the Catholic Medical Association, Iowans for Life, Women’s Choice Center and others.