Iowa has been a field of dreams and a haven of hope for pro-life advocates in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision three years ago.
Under the state’s 2024 Fetal Heartbeat Law, abortion is now illegal (with few exceptions) when embryonic cardiac activity can be detected. This can happen as early as six weeks of gestation. Iowa also requires a 24-hour waiting period after an ultrasound before an abortion can be performed, and parental notification before a minor can obtain an abortion.
Over the last three years, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, an avid pro-life voice, has worked with the state legislature to fund her MOMS (More Options for Maternal Support) Program to protect the unborn. MOMS connects women with pregnancy support services, safety net resources, housing assistance, and recovery and mental health treatment. In 2024 and 2025, the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services was slated to distribute more than $680,000 to four crisis pregnancy centers under the MOMS program, according to Iowa Public Radio.
More recently, the Iowa legislature passed a bill that will educate the next generation of students on the intricacies and sanctity of life in the womb. Senate File 175 requires public, private, charter, and innovation-zone schools (grades 5-12) to incorporate instruction on fetal development into their human growth and development and health curricula. This instruction includes showing students videos, computer-generated renderings, or animations depicting prenatal development, starting from fertilization. The bill specifies that these materials cannot be produced or provided by organizations that perform or promote abortions.
Lila Rose, founder and president of Live Action, celebrated the passage of the legislation in Iowa, and praised similar legislation in Indiana, calling it “a historic triumph for education, truth, and the sanctity of human life.”
Live Action’s acclaimed “Baby Olivia” video is now an instructional option for these curriculums.
“This legislation ensures that students in these states will see medically accurate, visually compelling educational materials in school, including resources like Live Action’s ‘Baby Olivia’ video, which illustrates the humanity of the preborn child from the earliest stages of development,” Rose said.
Four other states—Idaho, Kansas, North Dakota, and Tennessee—have passed similar legislation this year that require prenatal development content in public schools.
The new legislation in Iowa schools is intended to depict the humanity of the unborn child developing in the mother’s womb, according to Iowa Right to Life, one of the organizations to lobby for the law.
In a Christianity Today article, Kristi Judkins, executive director of Iowa Right to Life, said the law will give students information that will shape future choices. This kind of instruction might have prevented her from getting an abortion more than 40 years ago, she noted.
“I believe it would have 100 percent influenced my decision,” she told Christianity Today. “It’s fascinating when you think of the creativity and the intricacy of the nervous system and the function of the heart. And when those things develop in an unborn baby, it’s just amazing.”
On Radio Iowa, Senator Jeff Taylor said the bill will promote respect for life in all stages.
“Embryos, fetuses, babies, adolescents and adults are all humans and that fact should not be hidden, that every life no matter how small contains humanity and dignity from the very start,” he said.
Iowa’s Senate File 175 was signed into law on June 6, 2025, by Governor Kim Reynolds.
The two-term governor, who has announced she will not seek reelection this fall, recently reflected on the state’s progress in the pro-life movement.
Speaking at The Family Leadership Summit in Des Moines on July 11, Reynolds said her proudest moment was the passage of Iowa’s Fetal Heartbeat Law, according to News from the States.
“As of today, abortions in Iowa are down more than 60% since the fall of Roe v. Wade,” Reynolds said.
“It means that four of our state’s six Planned Parenthood centers are closing, and if the courts allow President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill to pull the remaining centers’ taxpayer funding, more may be on the way.”
“I hope the next governor of Iowa will build on this grace-built partnership, because no matter who’s holding office at the Capitol, we have a duty to safeguard and steward the beautiful gift that we’ve been given.”