With Iowa’s six-week abortion ban in effect, what options do women have for their reproductive care?

The state’s new law prohibits abortion when fetal cardiac activity can be detected on an ultrasound, typically at about six weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions for rape, incest, fatal fetal anomalies and to save the life of the pregnant woman.

The state ban drastically limits abortion clinics’ operations and further shifts the legal landscape in the Midwest. Iowa now joins 22 states that have enacted some type of abortion ban since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed reproductive rights nationwide for half a century.

Here’s what women should know:

More: What you should know about Iowa’s 6-week abortion ban that is now in effect

What do abortion laws look like in states surrounding Iowa?

Missouri bans abortion in almost all circumstances. The state law has limited exceptions to save the pregnant woman’s life and to prevent serious risk to the pregnant woman’s physical health.

South Dakota also has a total ban on abortion, except in cases when it’s required to save the pregnant woman’s life. Anyone who provides an illegal abortion could face a felony charge punishable by up to two years in prison.

Nebraska law bans abortion at 12-weeks pregnancy, with limited exceptions, and requires patients seeking abortions to undergo counseling and a 24-hour waiting period.

Kansas and Wisconsin have less restrictive abortion bans, but those states do not have laws or legal precedence that offer the same protections as other states.

In Kansas, abortion is illegal at 22 weeks of pregnancy. Wisconsin law prohibits the procedure at 22 weeks and requires patients to undergo a 24-hour waiting period before obtaining an abortion.

Which states surrounding Iowa protect abortion access?

Abortion is protected in Illinois and Minnesota.

There are no gestational limits on abortion in Minnesota, nor any other restrictions surrounding the procedure.

In Illinois, abortion is legal until the pregnancy reaches “viability,” or the stage when a fetus is developed enough to survive outside the uterus without medical help.

What does access to abortion care look like in other states?

Because of Illinois’ and Minnesota’s protections, health care providers and other abortion rights advocates say they will have channel resources or otherwise help Iowa patients travel to these states now that Iowa’s ban is in effect.

Iowa law does not prohibit residents from traveling out-of-state to seek abortion care.

Just under a dozen clinics throughout Minnesota provide in-person abortion care, meaning some patients may have to travel as far as the Twin Cities to find an appointment. However, that does not include telemedicine and other options meant to help patients access abortion pills through the mail.

Illinois has a much greater availability of in-person abortion clinics, according to abortionfinder.org. That’s on top of virtual providers and abortion pill mail delivery.

Planned Parenthood North Central States President and CEO Ruth Richardson said the organization has been expanding capacity in clinics near Iowa’s border, including the organization’s Mankato clinic in Minnesota. The organization has also expanded clinic space at its location in Omaha.

However, Iowa’s ban comes as Illinois and Minnesota already saw a huge surge in out-of-state patients seeking care last year, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a policy and research organization that supports reproductive health access.

Data shows Illinois experienced the largest increase in the number of patients traveling from other states, with more than 37,000 people traveling into the state for abortion care last year.

Guttmacher found about 3,000 patients traveled to Minnesota from other states — including some from as far as Texas — last year.

More: Iowa’s new 6-week abortion ban expected to become a pivotal election issue this November

How are abortion rights advocates helping patients travel for care out-of-state?

In light of abortion bans nationwide, websites have been established to help patients find appointments near them, such as abortionfinder.org or ineedana.com.

Planned Parenthood also has a similar website for its clinics. Advocates in Iowa have also established a website, freedomiowa.com, that includes options for resources for those affected by the state ban.

But for some patients, finding an available appointment is just one step in a challenging process to access abortion care, some advocates say.

Many patients, especially those who are low-income or are part of marginalized communities, may lack transportation, or be unable to find reliable childcare or take time off work for out-of-state care.

Advocacy organizations in Iowa say they are prepared to help patients overcome these barriers. Planned Parenthood North Central States, which includes Iowa, employs patient navigators to help patients find an appointment and to access financial aid to afford expenses related to that care.

The Iowa Abortion Access Fund recently partnered with the Chicago Abortion Fund to help manage the anticipated influx from Iowa. The organization offers grants to Iowans to help pay for the procedure as well as other related expenses, such as travel, lodging and childcare.

Iowa Abortion Access Fund is directing clients to contact Chicago Abortion Fund directly by calling (312) 663-0338 or by filling out an online form.

Michaela Ramm covers health care for the Des Moines Register. She can be reached at mramm@registermedia.com, at (319) 339-7354 or on Twitter at @Michaela_Ramm.

COLUMBUS, Oh. — Governor Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) is taking a stand against a Democrat-led proposal on the ballot in his state this November that would amend the state’s constitution, supposedly aimed at “ending gerrymandering” in the Buckeye State.

The only problem, DeWine said in a Wednesday press conference, is that it won’t.

The amendment in question would move the ability to draw state voting districts from the current Ohio Redistricting Commission to a new body called the “Citizens Redistricting Commission.”

If passed, the amendment would create the CRC, comprised of a fifteen-person panel chosen through direct citizen votes. The panel would hold five Democrats, five Republicans and five “independents” at all times. The current ORC is seven members including DeWine himself.

“We must stop writing and rewriting our state constitution. We must defeat this ballot measure,” DeWine said Wednesday at a press conference devoted to condemning the measure, which received enough citizen signatures earlier this month to appear on Ohio’s ballot this November.

“They needed signatures so they went out and paid people to go get signatures,” DeWine said. “But there’s no vetting. No vetting for this at all.”

The gov argues it doesn’t matter who draws the maps, but how.

So he’s looking to a Midwestern neighbor as a model of how to draw districts, and throwing his weight behind what he’s calling “The Iowa Plan.”

In Iowa’s unique district drawing system, a nonpartisan agency manages the process without accessing additional info like past voting records or party affiliations when making new maps.

DeWine wants to put this same strategy in place in Ohio to avoid having the new commission prioritize proportionality of voter affiliation above all else in the redistricting process.

At the press conference, DeWine showed slides of a sample map drawn by a third party consultant charged with creating the most proportional map possible.

“[Proportionality] sounds good,” DeWine said, pointing to the sample slides. “But then you have places here where ten different cities and townships are being divided up to make a single district just for the sake of proportionality.”

Republicans hold a supermajority in Ohio’s state legislature, giving DeWine no veto power over the Ohio General Assembly.

This means, as even he admitted during his remarks, DeWine can only provide the general assembly with requests not demands. But, he added that he’s still determined to make his opinion abundantly clear.

“I want to do this the right way,” he said. “There should be hearings and vetting for this plan…I will do all I can to work with the legislature to get this on the ballot; and if they can’t pass it, I’ll do all I can to get it on by initiative. That’s the backup plan.”

Ohio’s Republican Speaker of The House Jason Stephens had kind words for the governor but did not acknowledge his challenge to pass the Iowa Plan onto the ballot by November.

“I look forward to working with the Governor, the Senate, and the entire GOP Caucus to defeat Issue 1 in November. Once Issue 1 is defeated, we will continue to work to ensure all Ohioans voices are heard and represented,” he said.

The Ohio legislature is currently on recess and is not expected back until after the November 5 election. This means DeWine will almost certainly have to call a special session before then if he truly wants to put the Iowa Plan on the ballot, as he says, “the right way.”

DeWine just gave the Republicans in power homework with no due date.

On the other side of the aisle, Democrat Minority Leader Allison Russo said the gov is “scared” of the Democrat-led ballot measure.

“Ohioans deserve leaders who reflect our values and live up to the promise that they’ll always respect the will of the voters. Today was the governor’s manufactured attempt to confuse and misdirect voters from the truth,” she said. “Republicans are desperate because they know their gerrymandered grip on power is coming to an end.”

A strategist for former Governor John Kasich, was asked if they thought the assembly would either get the Iowa Plan on the ballot or if DeWine could manage it without them via a citizen initiative.

They kept their responses brief.

“No. And no,” they told The Post.

From here, DeWine and Republicans will either be able to put their Iowa Plan on the ballot to compete with Issue 1, or they will attempt to “defeat” Issue 1 by swaying public opinion before it reaches the voting booth.

Thirty Iowans are among the more than 43,000 current, past and would-be farmers, ranchers and forest owners nationwide that the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Wednesday will get a total of $2 billion in financial assistance to compensate for past discrimination in the agency’s farm lending programs.

The Inflation Reduction Act allocated $2.2 billion for the discrimination payments. For decades, Black farmers and other under-represented groups in farming have alleged bias in the agency’s farm loan programs.

“For too long, many farmers and ranchers experienced discrimination in farm loan programs and have not had the same access to federal resources and support,” President Joe Biden said in a statement.

The recipients of the payments include more than 23,000 people who have or previously had a farming operation, and another 20,000 who reported they were unable to have a farming operation because of discrimination in USDA’s loan process.

In Iowa, the breakdown is 21 current producers and nine who planned to be.

Farm loans from the USDA often are considered a last resort for farmers who have difficulty accessing credit from traditional banks.

Examples of types of discrimination farmers have faced could include elevated interest rates, having a loan approved too late in the farming season or a lack of assistance from loan officers, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters on a conference call.

“USDA was operating on a deficit of trust with many of our customers and potential customers,” said the former Iowa governor. “They didn’t feel our programs were designed for them, and in many cases, they were right.”

Southern states get largest payments

The USDA began accepting applications for the money last July. Farmers needed to detail their experiences of discrimination by USDA personnel and the consequences they experienced as a result.

The USDA did not provide names or demographic information for farmers who received payments. The Iowa claimants will get a total of $3.7 million, though it wasn’t clear how the money would be divided among them.

Mississippi and Alabama recipients received the largest number of payments, according to the agency. In the Midwest, Illinois, Michigan and South Dakota were the leading states.

Des Moines Register staff writer Donnelle Eller and Reuters contributed to this article.