Iowa hospitals, clinics and other healthcare providers offering medication abortions must now follow new in-person prescribing requirements under a law that took effect July 1.
The law, signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds May 19, requires providers to see patients in person before prescribing and dispensing abortion medication. During the initial visit, providers must perform an ultrasound, provide mandatory counseling, obtain written patient consent and screen for abuse or coercion. Because Iowa’s existing 24-hour waiting period remains in effect, patients must return at least one day later before receiving the medication.
The law applies only to Iowa providers. Patients may still access medication abortion through telehealth providers in states with shield laws, including Minnesota, Illinois and New York, which can prescribe and mail abortion medication across state lines.
However, that access has faced its own legal turbulence, with the Supreme Court ruling May 14 to keep mifepristone available via telehealth and mail nationwide, staying a 5th Circuit decision that would have reinstated an in-person dispensing requirement.
But those shield laws are also being tested directly in court, after Louisiana criminally indicted a New York physician for prescribing and mailing abortion medication to a Louisiana patient under New York’s telehealth shield law.
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