Activists marched through downtown Iowa City on Saturday to commemorate International Safe Abortion Day as the state wrangles with new limits on access to abortion care.
The small group of activists marched from Hickory Hill Park to College Green Park in Iowa City. The group walked past the Emma Goldman Clinic, a reproductive health clinic located right off the University of Iowa Campus, and through downtown Iowa City.
All the while, the march attendees chanted “Right for life. You’re a lie. You don’t care if people die,” and “Not the church, not the state, the people will decide their fate.”
The march, aimed at supporting access to safe abortions, comes months after the Iowa Supreme Court allowed a state law banning abortion after a fetal heartbeat has been detected to go into effect.
The state has grappled with the new law, and Democrats across the state are taking the issue to the campaign trail.
A September Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll found that the majority — 59 percent — of Iowans oppose the near-total abortion ban.
“We want to make people aware, if they are not already, that we are under a very strict abortion ban.” María-José Plata-Flórez, the march’s organizer, said.
Plata-Flórez also said that they hoped the march would encourage donations to local abortion providers, such as the Emma Goldman Clinic.
International Safe Abortion Day began in 1990 in Latin America and the Caribbean, but began to gain traction in English-speaking countries after the women’s global network for reproductive rights decided to commemorate Sept. 28 as a global day of action for access to safe and legal abortions.
Following their march through downtown Iowa City, the group gathered in College Green Park where a handful of speakers emphasized the importance of abortion access.
State Rep. Elinor Levin, D-Iowa, spoke of her experience being in the Iowa legislature the day that the near-total abortion ban was passed. She said it was frustrating and that it didn’t feel real.
“I grew up in the real world,” Levin said. “Where people know that we need access, that healthcare procedures are necessary for the safety of our bodies, and then go into that building where, for some folks, reality takes a hiatus. And the fact is, we have to vote them out.”
Mandi Remington, a Democratic candidate for Johnson County Board of Supervisors, also expressed frustrations with the ban, emphasizing the risk that abortion bans pose on maternal mortality rates.
“Iowans agree that every person deserves the right to access safe and legal abortion care without interference from politicians,” Remington said. “That’s why this ban has been met with such widespread disapproval.”
Remington also said that the risks of restricting reproductive freedoms extend beyond reproductive rights, and may indicate a larger attack on healthcare freedoms. She said that recent legislation surrounding reproductive rights reflects a troubling pattern of restricting healthcare access, including gender affirming care for youth.
Remington emphasized the need to resist these restrictions, and elect officials who prioritize reproductive freedoms, and healthcare freedoms in general.
“The fight is far from over, and I’m convinced that we can win it, but in the meanwhile, we keep us safe,” Remington said.