Abortions drop in Iowa post-Dobbs decision

Abortions have decreased in Iowa following the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs decision, which ended constitutional rights to an abortion.

Driving the news: A new Society of Family Planning report estimating Iowa's abortion rates from April 2022 to December 2022 shows they decreased by 48 abortions a month on average.

• At Planned Parenthood's Iowa clinics, abortions have decreased by 13% since the decision, Sheena Dooley, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood North Central States, tells Axios.

What they're saying: Though abortions remain legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks, a new 24-hour waiting period law that went into effect last July likely contributed to the decrease, Dooley says.

• The new law, which started a week after the Dobbs ruling, requires patients to get two appointments at a clinic with a 24-hour timestamp in between.
• That can be burdensome for low-income patients, especially if they have to drive a long distance or find childcare for those appointments.