DES MOINES, Iowa — Tuesday marked one year since the state’s fetal heartbeat bill became enforceable, prohibiting abortion after a heartbeat is detected.

Critiques of the bill call it a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, that is when cardiac activity, on average, is detected in an embryo. Those that celebrate the one year anniversary also say that there is more work to be done on the issue.

The numbers paint the picture on the effect the new law has had on the total number of abortions in the state. According to the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services there has been 378 abortions in the state in the first five months of this year. 1,792 total abortions in 2024, with almost 1,200 of those happening before the law took effect.

In 2023 there were 2,771 induced pregnancy terminations and 4,062 in 2022. For pro-life advocates the reduction in numbers is great, but it still signals the work left to be done.

“Our gold standard is life at conception,” said Maggie DeWitte, the Executive Director at Pulse Life Advocates. “Because we are here to create a culture of life and we are here to eliminate abortion from our state. So that is our gold standard we will always push that, life at conception.”

Pulse Life Advocates oversees 55 pregnancy resource centers in the state. DeWitte said that she is spending time in the interim to advocate for more restrictions around abortion pills, mifepristone and misoprostol. DeWitte acknowledged that the organization also has work to do in educating women, as the number of patients going out of state to receive abortion care has also increased.

According to Planned Parenthood of North Central States, there has been a 74% decrease in abortion services over the last year. But, there is an increase of 182% in the number of Iowans traveling to a neighboring state for that care. That statistic is one of many things about this change in law that has been frustrating to Iowa Democrats.

“Just this week, I contacted a friend of mine who is an obstetrician,” said State Representative Beth Wessel-Kroeschell (D) District 49, from Ames. “She had just gotten out of an ultrasound room where a 40-year-old woman with multiple health issues had measured at seven weeks and there was cardiac activity. In order for her to seek lifesaving care, she is being forced to go to another state.”

As patients are having to leave the state for abortion care, the recruitment of OB-GYNs to Iowa is almost non-existent with the fetal heartbeat law in effect. A doctor in rural Iowa highlights why this abortion law has ramifications outside of this singular issue.

“Now two of five clinics previously providing abortion care in Iowa remain open,” said Dr. Emily Boevers, an OB-GYN physician who practices in Waverly. “…this is a barrier for women not to just receive abortion care, but particularly for our low-resourced women to receive cancer screenings, contraception, treatment for infections, or even just a safe place to receive information.”

Dr. Boevers pointed out that some women who are struggling to make ends meet have to now travel further, spend more money and miss time at work to seek the care they require with clinics closing. She cited that there were only 194 women in 2023 that sought assistance through abortion funds to help with financial stress. In 2024 there were 625 women in Iowa seeking that same assistance to go out of state to receive abortion care.