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On Friday, Iowa’s Republican governor signed a strict new abortion ban into law. And for three days, most abortions in Iowa were illegal past six weeks of pregnancy. Until Monday afternoon, when a district judge put the ban on hold. Joseph Seidlin, a district court judge in Polk County, said that the new ban would be suspended while the larger legal case against it moved forward. He said in his ruling that the plaintiffs who filed a lawsuit against the ban, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers, were likely to succeed on the merits of their case. (Edmonds, 7/17)

A Polk County district judge has temporarily blocked a new Iowa law that bans abortion as early as six weeks of pregnancy from taking effect. On Monday, Polk County District Judge Joseph Seidlin issued a temporary injunction on Monday blocking the new law, which bans abortion after cardiac activity is detected, from going into effect while it goes through the courts. (Krebs, 7/17)

Abortion providers said they scrambled last week to fit in as many appointments as possible before the governor put pen to paper, preemptively making hundreds of calls to prepare patients for the uncertainty and keeping clinics open late. Reynolds swiftly put out a statement underscoring her intention to fight the issue all the way to the state Supreme Court. “The abortion industry’s attempt to thwart the will of Iowans and the voices of their elected representatives continues today,” she said. (Fingerhut, 7/17)

A total of 21 states have moved to ban or restrict abortion following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and end all federal protections for abortion. Why it matters: At least 24 U.S. states in total are expected to ban abortions or heavily restrict access to them, according to the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion-rights organization. (González, 7/17)