Iowa abortion rights activists celebrate, breathe sigh of relief

CEDAR RAPIDS — Alice Dahle, 74, of Cedar Rapids, exhaled in a literal sigh of relief as she sat in the shade in a downtown park Friday, wearing a shirt that read “Abortion is a human right.”

“It’s a relief we can celebrate tonight, instead of have an angry protest,” Dahle said.

She was among about two dozen activists who gathered Friday evening in Greene Square in Cedar Rapids to celebrate a split decision by the Iowa Supreme Court that leaves in place a district court ruling striking down the “fetal heartbeat” law that would have banned abortion after six weeks.

Abortion in Iowa is now legal until the 20th week of a pregnancy.

Dahle, who chairs Amnesty International USA's Women's Human Rights Coordination Group, said she was surprised by the decision after state and federal rulings last year rolled back state and federal abortion rights protections.

“I see women’s health rights as a human right, and I don’t think it should be decided by any politician, or anybody else, other than the person who has to live with the decision that’s made,” Dahle said.

Iowa state Sen. Liz Bennett, D-Cedar Rapids, highlighted a passage from Justice Thomas Waterman’s opinion.

Waterman, referring to 2021 Iowa Supreme Court decision that warrantless searches of garbage violated the Iowa Constitution, wrote, “It would be ironic and troubling for our court to become the first state supreme court in the nation to hold that trash set out in a garbage can for collection is entitled to more constitutional protection than a woman’s interest in autonomy and dominion over her own body.”

“We live to fight another day today,” Bennett said. “We protect our right to make our health care choices and have an abortion today. But everybody needs to know that we are hanging by a thread.”

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Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has not called for a special session to bring lawmakers back to Des Moines to pass new legislation that would further restricts abortion.

If she doesn’t, Bennett said Republicans next spring could see through a proposal to amend the Iowa Constitution to clearly state it does not guarantee a right to abortion. Lawmakers have approved the proposed amendment once; they would need to pass it again by 2024 and then put it to a public vote.

“It is going to be all hands on deck,” Bennett said of organizing the turnout of voters who support women’s reproductive rights, “and kick out ones who want to take our rights away.”

Abby Michael, 31, of Cedar Rapids, an advocacy strategist with Planned Parenthood, said the group “will keep fighting for Iowans to have bodily autonomy.”

“The only way we are going to protect safe and legal abortion is at the ballot box,” Michael said. “Iowans need to hold their elected officials accountable every step of the way as they work to take control over our bodies and futures.”

Des Moines rally

In a Des Moines beer garden, a few dozen activists celebrated the Friday ruling but said the fight for reproductive health care is not over.

Planned Parenthood leaders and elected officials warned that Republican lawmakers are going to move forward with abortion restrictions now that the fetal heartbeat case is resolved.

State Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, D-West Des Moines, encourage listeners to organize and elect leaders who protect abortion rights. Iowa has city and school elections this year, which she said presents an opportunity to organize neighbors.

“We need to be vigilant because they’re not giving up on this issue,” Trone Garriott said. “There’s a single-minded focus on banning access to reproductive care, abortion care, in our state.”

Still, Friday was a rare moment of celebration for activists after years of seeing abortion rights erode around the country and in Iowa.

The Iowa Supreme Court in 2022 overruled its 2018 decision that the state constitution confers a fundamental right to abortion, weeks before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, upending the 50-year right to an abortion enshrined in that ruling, allowing states to restrict abortion.

“When was the last time that you felt that we were celebrating?” asked Gabriela Fuentes, an organizer for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa. “While we celebrate today’s win, we stand committed to standing with Iowans as the fight to protect reproductive freedom continues.”

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