In a 6-1 decision, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that a law preventing Planned Parenthood of the Heartland from receiving two federal grants to support sex education was constitutional.
What We Know:
- Governor Kim Reynolds signed House File 766 in 2019 that banned abortion providers from conducting sex education programs. Planned Parenthood and the ACLU of Iowa filed against the law, claiming it interfered with the organization’s right to equal protection. Initially, a District Court ruled in favor of Planned Parenthood, but the Supreme Court’s decision determined that the law does not interfere with the equal protection right as it does not affect the right to obtain an abortion.
- Justice Brent Appel was the only dissenting opinion and is also the only Democrat-appointed judge on the court. House File 766 barred access to two federal grants that were previously approved for Planned Parenthood, one being the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) and the other Community Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention (CAPP). The grants are administered by the Iowa Department of Human Services and the Iowa Department of Public Health.
In the majority opinion, Justice Dana Oxley wrote, “The state could also be concerned that using abortion providers to deliver sex-edu programs to teenage students would create relationships between the abortion provider and the students the state does not wish to foster in light of its policy preference for childbirth over abortion.”
- Reynolds said she is “proud to be a pro-life governor who will protect all innocent life” in response to the ruling. A Christian conservative group called The Family Leader who filed a friend-of-the-court brief applauded the decision. They said in a statement, “Those who make money by performing abortions have an inherent conflict of interest in teaching our children to prevent pregnancy.”
- Planned Parenthood provided sex education to dozens of schools and community organizations in Iowa since 2005. Its curriculum focused on areas with the highest rates of sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancies. Sarah Stoesz, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood for the North Central States, responded, “This is a disappointing day for young Iowans who have relied on Planned Parenthood for more than a decade to provide them with comprehensive, age-appropriate sex education.”
While the decision does not affect the organization’s ability to provide abortions, it is a clear pro-life stance on sex education.
