Iowans advocate, tell their stories about reproductive rights

Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa and supporters gathered for a lobbying day at the Iowa Capitol Feb. 24. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

Iowans dressed in pink and toting Planned Parenthood signs and bags trekked up the hill to the Iowa Capitol Monday afternoon to advocate for reproductive rights and share their stories with lawmakers. 

The rally participants protested bills, like one that would require schools to teach Iowa students about fetal development, and they advocated for bills like a proposed constitutional amendment for the right to an abortion. 

Democratic lawmakers encouraged attendees in the Capitol Hill Lutheran Church basement to “always be in the room” and to “always speak out.” Attendees met for lobbying training at the church earlier in the day. 

“The path forward and the path to victory, is to be as tenacious as the pro lifers were for 50 years,” Rep. Aime Wichtendahl, D-Hiawatha, said to the group.

Rep. Jennifer Konfrst, the House minority leader, spoke about some of the bills the group supported. 

Senate Joint Resolution 1, a proposed constitutional amendment for the right to reproductive care, has been assigned a subcommittee but has not advanced. 

The group was also supportive of bills that would allow pharmacists to prescribe hormonal contraceptives, would reestablish the Iowa Family Planning Network and would expand Medicaid eligibility for postpartum mothers. 

These bills have all been assigned subcommittees but have not had scheduled hearings.

Konfrst said even legislators with different views need to listen to their constituents. 

“The question isn’t who’s fighting for us, the question is, why are they ignoring you? Why aren’t they listening to you?” Konfrst said. “We are the majority of Iowans, and they’re ignoring us because they’re listening to special interests and not their constituents.” 

Sen. Janice Weiner, the Senate minority leader from Iowa City, said she asked her colleagues to reflect on their work and ask themselves if they were “truly helping all Iowans.” 

“It’s clear to me, and I think it’s clear to you, and given today’s events in the Capitol, that the answer to that question is a resounding, unequivocal, no,” Weiner said, referencing a protest at the Capitol Wednesday against a bill that would remove gender identity as a protected class under the Iowa Civil Rights Act. 

Dania Larios, a Drake student and member of Students for Reproductive Justice, was prepared to speak to lawmakers for the first time. 

“Showing up in person, getting in their faces is the most effective way,” Larios said. “I think, to just show them we are here, we don’t want this, and we’re fighting against it.” 

Another bill the group opposed, House Study Bill 139, and the similar Senate File 220, would grant medical practitioners or insurers the right not to participate in or pay for a health care service that goes against their personal beliefs. 

Opponents of the bill say this puts Iowan’s health and safety second to the conscience of doctors in the state. 

The House bill has advanced from committee. 

Another bill, Senate Study Bill 1028, would require Iowa health classes in grades 7 through 12, show detailed videos and graphics of fetal development. The bill is sometimes referred to as a “Baby Olivia” bill for its references to a video produced by the anti-abortion group Live Action, which opponents say is not based on science. 

Proponents say the bill gives young people a full understanding of fetal development and gestation. 

The bill has advanced from its Senate committee. 

Jean Swenson, speaking from the bottom of the steps leading into the Iowa Statehouse, opposed the bill and said she came to advocate to reproductive rights, in part because she “feels guilty” for the country’s failure to uphold Roe v. Wade. 

“My mother sat me down in 1973, and my sister, and said, ‘This is huge, don’t ever let it go away,’ meaning Roe v Wade,” Swenson said.

Swenson said she passed the story on to her daughter and has tried to share it whenever the protections are under attack.

This is exactly the approach Tiara Mays-Sims encouraged folks to take when speaking to lawmakers.

“They know the facts and figures, they just continue to vote like trash,” Mays-Sims said. “But tell them how you’re feeling, pull out those heart strings.”

Alex Barrantes-Lewis formerly worked at Planned Parenthood and had an abortion while in nursing school. She said these were the lived experiences she planned to share with legislators. 

She was also against HSB 186, which would require facilities that perform abortions through medication to inform patients of the “effectiveness and possibility” of reversing the effects of the abortion-inducing medication. 

Barrantes-Lewis said the bill is not based in science and is “actually dangerous for women.” 

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologist, does not support abortion reversal practices and the promotion of the practice in bills like this across the country. 

This bill has a House subcommittee meeting scheduled for Tuesday at noon. 

Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa and Planned Parenthood North Central States also noted opposition to bills that would give personhood status to an unborn child and a bill that would require parental consent for human papillomavirus, HPV, vaccinations.