This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Iowa’s Republican governor, Kim Reynolds, said on Friday she plans to sign a bill banning abortion after just six weeks of pregnancy, a move that would make the state the most restrictive in the nation.

The legislation will almost certainly draw a swift court challenge and the move sets the scene for another lengthy legal battle as anti-abortion lawmakers ultimately eye the landmark Roe v Wade 1973 supreme court ruling that legalized abortion in the US.

Let's call the pro-lifers what they are: pro-death Read more

Reynolds has declared herself “proud to be pro-life”. Her announcement on Friday came shortly after the Iowa affiliates of Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union warned that they would sue her if she signed the bill.

The Republican-controlled state legislature passed the bill on Wednesday and sent it to the governor’s desk.

“We will challenge this law with absolutely everything we have on behalf of our patients because Iowa will not go back,” said Suzanna de Baca, chief executive of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland.

The legislation has propelled the state to the front of a push among conservative statehouses jockeying to enact the nation’s most restrictive regulations on the procedure. The bill would ban most abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which is around six weeks of pregnancy.

Similar legislation passed in other states did not go into effect after they were challenged in court over their constitutionality.

Critics say the so-called “heartbeat” bill would ban abortions before some women even know they are pregnant. A federal appeals court three years ago struck down similar legislation approved in Arkansas and North Dakota.

Backers of the legislation are optimistic about an influx of right-leaning judicial appointments under Donald Trump.

“We created an opportunity to take a run at Roe v Wade – 100%,” said the Republican Iowa state senator Rick Bertrand of Sioux City after the bill passed.

In March, Mississippi banned abortion after 15 weeks, sparking an immediate court challenge by reproductive rights advocates. A similar court challenge is under way in Kentucky, which in April enacted a ban on a common abortion procedure from the 11th week of pregnancy.