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She added, “This outrageous law represents an unprecedented level of intrusion in women’s private health decisions and an astonishing waste of government times and resources.”

The legislation is the first of its kind in the country.

The abortion measure was tucked into a larger expansion of Medicaid, the joint federal-state program that provides healthcare coverage to low-income Americans.

The Affordable Care Act called for states to expand the programs to cover people who earn up to 138 percent the poverty line, currently $23,550 for a family of four.

Federal Medicaid funds are prevented from being used for abortion except in cases of rape, incest or to save the mother's life, though states can use their own money for additional purposes.

Iowa's program adds coverage for abortion in cases of fetal anomalies.

In fiscal 2012, Medicaid reimbursed medical facilities for 22 abortions, according to state health data obtained by the Des Moines Register.

-- This story was updated at 5:45 p.m. to correct the day of the bill signing