Last Friday the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that the state constitution does not contain a right an abortion. This overturns a decision from the twenty-eighteen high court. The difference is conservative governor Kim Reynolds who has appointed four justices to the seven-member court. These appointments have flipped the court from a liberal majority to a conservative majority, highlighting again that elections have consequences. Justice Mansfield authored the majority opinion, saying the twenty-eighteen decision “lacks textual and historical support.”

Court tradition says the opinion of a court must be preserved by future courts, even if it is legally flawed—a practice that perpetuates bad law. Fortunately, this twenty-twenty-two Iowa high court jettisoned this bad tradition and ruled on the basis of actual law and truth, instead of perpetuating a concocted, judicially active, life-taking ruling.