COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (KMTV) — There is a constitutional right to abortion in Iowa for now, but it could change under a Republican-controlled legislature.
Nothing in the state would change immediately if Roe v. Wade gets overturned. Currently, pregnant women can get abortions up to 20 weeks.
Iowans are expressing mixed feelings about the possibility of a big change. In downtown Council Bluffs on Tuesday, opinions reflected the nuances of the abortion issue.
"They should leave it the way it is. I believe it should be a woman's choice what she wants to do," said George Reeh in Council Bluffs on Tuesday.
"It should be illegal from conception I think unless it's like a rape case or something like that's really serious or if the mother's life is dangerous," Mary Suder said.
"I'm kind of awkward on it because I'm adopted, but I'm a little bit pro-choice. I think it's up to the individual," said Dan Boggs.
Iowa resident Rue Monroe underwent the procedure in May of 2019.
"I chose the medication abortion, not the surgical one. I thought that was the right thing to do," she said.
Monroe chose this path after realizing she wasn't ready for kids.
"In addition to being in a new relationship. I kind of worried, you know, if I went through with it, would I be a single mother? At this point, I'd have a three-year-old in a one-bedroom apartment with a part-time job and probably on government assistance," said Monroe.
Maggie DeWitte is the Executive Director of Pulse Life Advocates, an organization that opposes abortion. She has concerns about the motivations of the leak.
Still, DeWitte calls this potentially one of the "biggest monumental victories" of the anti-abortion movement in over 50 years.
"That is a human being. With its own DNA. With its own heartbeat. With its own fingerprints. With its own unique body. Then we do not have a right to end that life and that's very black and white," said DeWitte.
But for women like Monroe, the answers are not so clear-cut.
"If I had taken on that role of mother, I would not have been happy. That's not fair to me. That's not fair to my potential child. And it's just in the best interest of health and well-being of many pregnant people that this is the decision I have to make."
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