(ABC 6 News) — A law banning abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy (with some exceptions) went into effect in Iowa on Monday, July 29. 

The law was signed in July of last year, but a legal challenge in Iowa district court prevented the law from taking effect. 

The exceptions are as follows: 

• -Victims of rape are required to report their pregnancy within 45 days of the incident to law enforcement or to public or private health agency.
• Victims of incest have 140 days to report in order to receive an abortion.
• After a fetal heartbeat is detectable, physicians shall not preform abortions unless it’s found “that the woman has a condition which the physician deems a medical emergency”

“I’m glad to see this has finally happened,” said State Senator Dennis Guth, who represents the 28th district. “Iowa was actually the first state in the nation to pass a fetal heartbeat law but that was struck down a couple years ago and then we re-passed it about a year ago during a special session.”  

Iowa Democrats called the passage of the law “draconian,” and warned that it would lead to deaths. 

“[Republicans are] talking about a number of weeks because they want to distract from the issue that they’re taking the rights away from women to make decisions about their own bodies,” said Rep. Jennifer Konfrst, who is the Democratic minority leader in the state assembly. “Women’s bodies are more complicated than assigning a number of weeks and moving on,” she added. 

In a statement after the bill’s passage, Governor Kim Reynolds said, “This is a worthy battle and one I will never concede,” and that “We have a responsibility not only to protect the unborn in law, but to change the destructive culture of abortion that still exists in a post-Roe world.”