This text of Iowa § 146E.2 (Abortion — fetal heartbeat — exceptions) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.
1. Except in the case of a medical emergency or fetal heartbeat exception, a physician
shall not perform an abortion unless the physician has first complied with the prerequisites of
chapter146Aandhastestedthepregnantwomanasspecifiedinthissubsection, todetermine
if a fetal heartbeat is detectable.
a. In testing for a detectable fetal heartbeat, the physician shall perform an abdominal
ultrasound, necessary to detect a fetal heartbeat according to standard medical practice
and including the use of medical devices, as determined by standard medical practice and
specified by rule of the board of medicine.
b. Following the testing of the pregnant woman for a detectable fetal heartbeat, the
physician shall inform the pregnant woman, in writing, of all of the following:
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1. Except in the case of a medical emergency or fetal heartbeat exception, a physician
shall not perform an abortion unless the physician has first complied with the prerequisites of
chapter146Aandhastestedthepregnantwomanasspecifiedinthissubsection, todetermine
if a fetal heartbeat is detectable.
a. In testing for a detectable fetal heartbeat, the physician shall perform an abdominal
ultrasound, necessary to detect a fetal heartbeat according to standard medical practice
and including the use of medical devices, as determined by standard medical practice and
specified by rule of the board of medicine.
b. Following the testing of the pregnant woman for a detectable fetal heartbeat, the
physician shall inform the pregnant woman, in writing, of all of the following:
(1) Whether a fetal heartbeat was detected.
(2) That if a fetal heartbeat was detected, an abortion is prohibited.
c. Upon receipt of the written information, the pregnant woman shall sign a form
acknowledging that the pregnant woman has received the information as required under
this subsection.
2. a. A physician shall not perform an abortion upon a pregnant woman when it has been
determined that the unborn child has a detectable fetal heartbeat, unless, in the physician’s
reasonable medical judgment, a medical emergency or fetal heartbeat exception exists.
b. Notwithstanding paragraph “a”, if a physician determines that the probable
postfertilization age, as defined in section 146B.1, of the unborn child is twenty or more
weeks, the physician shall not perform an abortion upon a pregnant woman when it has been
determined that the unborn child has a detectable fetal heartbeat, unless in the physician’s
reasonable medical judgment the pregnant woman has a condition which the physician
§146E.2, ABORTION — FETAL HEARTBEAT 2
deems a medical emergency, as defined in section 146B.1, or the abortion is necessary to
preserve the life of an unborn child.
3. A physician shall retain in the woman’s medical record all of the following:
a. Documentation of the testing for a fetal heartbeat as specified in subsection 1 and the
results of the fetal heartbeat test.
b. The pregnant woman’s signed form acknowledging that the pregnant woman received
the information as required under subsection 1.
4. Thissectionshallnotbeconstruedtoimposecivilorcriminalliabilityonawomanupon
whom an abortion is performed in violation of this section.
5. The board of medicine shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to administer this
section.