DES MOINES, Iowa — A conservative activist is calling for the removal of three Iowa Supreme Court justices following a controversial abortion ruling.
Bob Vander Plaats, president and CEO of The Family Leader, took to Twitter to criticize Justices Edward Mansfield and Thomas Waterman, as well as Chief Justice Susan Christensen.
All three of those justices, as part of a 3-3 split decision, took part in an opinion to affirm a lower court's 2019 ruling that maintains access to abortion up to 20 weeks in pregnancy.
Three others on the bench — Christopher McDonald, Matthew McDermott and David May — were in favor of overturning the district's ruling in favor of Gov. Kim Reynolds' six-week ban.
Due to Justice Dana Oxley's recusal, the 3-3 ruling effectively upheld the 20-week abortion ban.
In response to the ruling, Vander Plaats wrote on Twitter Saturday, "These three dissenters have shown blatant disrespect for the constitution, the people’s representatives and we the people. They should resign, be impeached or be ousted."
His call to action echoes one made more than 10 years ago in 2010, when voters ousted three Iowa Supreme Court justices via a judicial retention election after they overturned a state ban on same-sex marriage in 2009.
Back then, Vander Plaats was one of the key leaders of the campaign to remove the justices.
However, if Vander Plaats or other conservative activists want to see a similar outcome with the current judges, they would have to wait a while: Mansfield, Waterman and Christensen are not up for a public retention vote until 2028.