Many Iowans are seeking information on judges up for retention in 2020. At least two of the judges up for retention this year have provided reasons for concern.
According to a joint effort by Iowans For Life and Iowa Right to Life, Court of Appeals judge Thomas Bower was on the appellate court when they allowed telemed abortion in 2015 in Planned Parenthood of the Heartland vs. the Iowa Board of Medicine.
In 2013, the Iowa Board of Medicine ruled a physician had to be present to administer the abortion pill RU-486 and had to provide a physical exam of the patient.
District court judge Michael Huppert is the other concerning judge. Huppert ruled against Save the 1, a Michigan-based organization that fights against exceptions for rape, incest or fetal abnormality in abortion-related legislation. Save the 1 sought to intervene in the fetal heartbeat lawsuit to remove the exceptions.
Huppert wrote that Save the 1’s claims go far beyond the legal issues and facts in the initial lawsuit and allowing the group to intervene would have delayed the case.
He also granted summary judgment requested by Planned Parenthood to block enforcement of Iowa’s fetal heartbeat law, saying the heartbeat law violates both due process and equal protection provisions of the Iowa Constitution. Huppert issued his ruling on the 46th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.
