Iowa enacts law banning abortion when fetal heartbeat is detected

The governor signed the new rule, announcing that "despite the abortion industry’s best attempts, Iowa is protecting the most innocent and defenseless lives."

"The Heartbeat Bill is now the law of the land!" Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said after signing a new rule Friday that bans abortion from the moment a fetal heartbeat is detected, around week six of pregnancy.

Despite the abortion industry’s best attempts, Iowa is protecting the most innocent and defenseless lives!

The bill approved by the state House of Representatives and state Senate last week has exceptions if the life of the mother or the baby is at risk, or if rape or incest were reported within a certain period of time.

After the approval, Vice President Kamala Harris called the representatives who promoted the bill "extremists." In addition, she demanded that Congress pass a law that "restores the protections of Roe [v. Wade] into federal law."