One of the United States' strictest abortion laws came into effect in the midwestern state of Iowa on Monday, immediately banning most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy – before many women even know they are pregnant.

Iowa, which previously allowed abortions up to 22 weeks of pregnancy, joins Florida, Georgia and South Carolina in prohibiting abortions after six weeks, while 14 other states ban abortion outright.

"There is no right more sacred than life," Republican Governor Kim Reynolds said in June. "I'm glad that the Iowa Supreme Court has upheld the will of the people of Iowa."

Iowa's Republican leaders had been pushing for the law for years and received a boost when the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. In the same year, Iowa's Supreme Court also ruled that there was no constitutional right to abortion in the state.

What does the law entail?

The law that prohibits abortions once cardiac activity is detected, which is roughly at six weeks, was initially passed last year. But it was only in force for a few days before a district judge temporarily blocked it in response to a legal challenge filed by pro-abortion groups.

After the Iowa Supreme Court reiterated its 2022 ruling last month, that block has now been removed.

"This morning, more than 1.5 million women in Iowa woke up with fewer rights than they had last night because of another Trump Abortion Ban," tweeted US Vice-President and presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, referring to the overturning of Roe v. Wade by a Supreme Court stocked with conservative-leading judges appointed under the Trump presidency.

"In November, we will stop Trump's extreme abortion bans at the ballot box," she promised.

In anticipation of the law coming into effect, Iowa abortion providers have been making preparations by shoring up possibilities for women to access abortions in neighboring states such as Nebraska, where abortion is legal up to 12 weeks, and Minnesota, where there is no ban at all.

Nevertheless, Sarah Traxler, Planned Parenthood North Central States' chief medical officer, called it a "devastating and dark" moment in Iowa's history.

mf/wmr (AP/AFP)