On the fourth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade with its historic Dobbs decision, five Iowa women are joining more than 150 others in Washington, D.C., to advocate for abortion access across the country.
While in D.C., the women are meeting with lawmakers on Wednesday, June 24, including Iowa Republicans Sen. Joni Ernst and Rep. Zach Nunn, to discuss why they believe abortion access is so important.
The demonstration is an annual event coordinated by D.C.-based advocacy group Free and Just. The group was founded in 2023 in the wake of the Dobbs decision with the intention of lifting the voices of Americans affected by the ruling.
Managing Director Veronica Ingham has been with Free and Just from the beginning. After the Dobbs decision, she said, the reports the group received from people who had been denied reproductive healthcare began piling up. As the number of reports continued to grow, so did Ingham’s resolve.
“This is a movement of people who have been impacted by an incredibly important issue, and we’re not going anywhere,” she said. “These women are brave and they stand up every day and share what has happened to them and what could happen to other women. And we’re going to continue to do that in the considerable future.”
Here’s a look at three of the Iowans taking their message to D.C.
A voice for rural Iowans
Leila Staton is a Democrat running for the Iowa State House of Representatives. She wants to unseat incumbent Republican Rep. Joshua Meggers of Grundy, who has held the seat since 2023.
Staton has long been an advocate for abortion access. Growing up in rural Iowa, she said she noticed a gap that needed to be filled and stepped up to fill it.
“I didn’t see a lot of organizing around abortion rights despite it being something I really cared about,” she said. “Making sure that other people have someone to look to who is organizing around abortion rights is really important.”
Staton has been a storyteller with Planned Parenthood for the past two years. She wants more than access to reproductive services: She wants to make sure that if Roe v. Wade was to be reinstated, it is more accessible than it was the first time around.
“I know that Roe v. Wade did not serve all people and that there are serious changes that need to be made,” she said. “However, it did put a lot of women in danger despite that when it was reversed.”
Staton’s fight is deeply personal reason that drives Staton in this work as well: The care she was able to receive after an assault when she was a child keeps her active in ensuring others have access to reproductive healthcare.
“I’m doing what I’m doing now because I was able to have those reproductive healthcare options,” Staton said. “I’m also in it because there are other kids in those same scenarios that have less opportunity now because of the Dobbs decision.”
Sharing stories is a major part of how Free and Just spreads awareness — but for many involved, it has a much greater impact. For Ingham, the sense of community she has cultivated through the exchanging of mutual experiences is one of the most rewarding parts of the job.
“There are so many people who have experienced something extremely traumatic and have been looking for a place to channel some of those experiences,” Ingham said. “For them to be able to share what has happened to them is something that many of our folks find to be empowering. And I think that, to me, is success.”
All hands on deck
Elizabeth “Ellie” Davis has been living abroad since 1991. At the time of the Dobbs decision, she had taken up residence in Sweden, but when the 2024 election rolled around, she decided it was time to go home.
“I didn’t know what I was going to be doing,” Davis said. “I just felt a real need to come back. There were so many holes in the dam, (and) it just felt like all hands on deck.”
That’s when a friend told her about Free and Just. Although this is the first event Davis has participated in with the group, her passion for their cause runs deep.
“Women are important, (and) women are literally dying,” Davis said.
For Davis, the stakes are personal. She says if she hadn’t had access to abortion care services when she was young, she would not have gotten to live the life she has today.
“I would not have raised good human beings,” she said. “I know the person I was, and I want other women who know themselves, who know that they just can’t be a good mother, I want them to have the freedom and the access to that safe and legal healthcare.”
Of Iowa’s 99 counties, 33 have access to OBGYN care.
“That’s unconscionable, and the only reason it’s happening is because doctors are too afraid to practice here.” Davis said. “I know that these anti-choice people believe that they’re doing something, but women are dying as a result of their zealous behavior. We’re not a theocracy, you know, and that’s where it feels like they’re pushing towards.”
The fundamentals of being human
The Rev. Kelli Clement is no stranger to religious arguments against abortion. In her time at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Ames, she got involved with Planned Parenthood, which, in turn, led her to Free and Just.
Like the other Iowans accompanying her to D.C., along with millions of other American women, she has utilized reproductive healthcare services, and considers her quality of life much better for it.
“I am the mom and wife and pastor and citizen and friend I am because I was able to get professional, compassionate abortion care when I needed it,” Clement said. “I want everybody to be able to have that.”
Clement’s lived experience combined with her time spent working in the church has given her a different perspective on some of the logic being used to pass anti-abortion legislation.
“Abortion is not mentioned in the Bible,” Clement said. “We are a nation of constitutional laws, and not everyone believes in the same scripture, so even if it was, that’s not a good enough reason to deny someone rights.”
That right to choose, Clement says, is not tied to religion. In her mind, it is a fundamental part of being human.
“What makes us human beings is that our bodies belong to us,” Clement said. “The dignity of the individual to make our own choices about how we live our lives and how we choose to use our bodies is bedrock to so many religious traditions. To be human is to be able to make our own choices, and I don’t think there’s a religion in the world that would dispute that.”
Norah Judson is a reporter for the Register. Reach her at njudson@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Meet 3 Iowan women fighting for abortion rights on Dobbs anniversary
Reporting by Norah Judson, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Norah Judson, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
