In the second week of protests in Iowa City following the leaked draft opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court — which is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade and undermine decades of precedent for reproductive rights and right to privacy — hundreds of Iowans rallied on the University of Iowa Pentacrest on Saturday, as part of the Nationwide Day of Protest for abortion rights.
Francine Thompson, executive director at the Emma Goldman Clinic, said that while we are in the eleventh hour, it isn’t midnight yet. She encouraged the crowd to continue protesting and vote against anti-abortion candidates in November.
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“We still have a lot of fight left in us. I can only imagine that the founders of the Emma Goldman Clinic, and all those who worked so hard, never anticipated that 50 years later, we would still be fighting this same battle,” Thompson said. “Should the leak be the reality, the impact of this decision will fall hardest on people who already face obstacles to healthcare.”
Many attendees wore green in reference to the Green Wave, an abortion rights movement in Latin America. Community members shared their personal stories regarding abortion. One healthcare provider described how she passed through tall, locked gates to enter their building, while anti-abortion protesters shouted at them every morning. They have bulletproof windows, and some of her coworkers wear bulletproof vests.
After an hour, the crowd Saturday marched down Iowa Avenue, Gilbert Street and the Ped Mall, chanting “Right-to-Life your name’s a lie, you don’t care if people die,” “They say no-choice, we say pro-choice,” and “My body, my choice!” Drivers honked in solidarity, and pedestrians cheered on the protesters.
Anne Bendixen dresses as a handmaiden, from Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, at the Bans Off Our Bodies protest, on Saturday, May 14, 2022, in Iowa City. – Adria Carpenter/Little Village
Mandi Nichols, director of the Corridor Community Action Network (CCAN), speaks at the Bans Off Our Bodies protest. Nichols, a mother of three, has had many health problems following her last pregnancy. “I also seem to get sicker with each pregnancy … I am now on seven daily medications that I need to stay alive, and they are not all safe for pregnancy,” Nichols said. “If I were to find myself pregnant, I shouldn’t have to explain why I want or need an abortion. I shouldn’t feel the need to justify it or reveal my personal traumas to convince others of the harm that maintaining a pregnancy would cause my family … It should be as simple as walking into a clinic and saying, ‘I want an abortion.’” – Adria Carpenter/Little Village
A woman holds up a sign at the Bans Off Our Bodies protest on May 14, 2022, in Iowa City. — Adria Carpenter/Little Village
Rabbi Esther Hugenholtz speaks at the Bans Off Our Bodies protest. “My presence is not a political act. It is a moral stance, an expression of my deepest religious values, and a fulfillment of the obligations of Jewish ethics,” Hugenholtz said. “Religion can offer spiritual sustenance and moral guidance in ways that affirm life, grant choice, and center love, agency, health, wellbeing and holiness.” – Adria Carpenter/Little Village
A woman holds up an “Abolish all systems of oppression” sign. – Adria Carpenter/Little Village
Francine Thompson, executive director of the Emma Goldman Clinic, speaks at the Bans Off Our Bodies protest. “It’s a short leap from banning abortions to criminalizing those seeking and those providing abortions. And it’s a really short leap from abortion bans to birth control bans, to marriage equality bans, to interracial marriage bans, and on and on,” Thompson said. “We need politicians and judges to just stay the fuck out of our personal lives.” – Adria Carpenter/Little Village
Water, food and signs at the Bans Off Our Bodies protest. – Adria Carpenter/Little Village
Kate Raveux speaks at the Bans Off Our Bodies protest. “I was in office of Senator Joni Ernst, speaking to one of her staff members, expressing a concern about how Senator Ernst and the GOP potentially might strip my wife and I of our marriage and the protections afforded with it. That staffer said I didn’t need to worry because marriage equality was settled law,” Raveux said. “Please explain to me how a case from 2015 is more settled law than the one from 1973.” – Adria Carpenter/Little Village
Mica Doolan, who has previously had three abortions, speaks at the Bans Off Our Bodies protest. – Adria Carpenter/Little Village
Hundreds march on Gilbert St in Iowa City chanting, “Right-to-Life, your name’s a lie. You don’t care if people die!” during a May 2022 protest — Adria Carpenter/Little Village
Protesters march down Iowa Avenue chanting, “They say no-choice.
We say pro-choice!” – Adria Carpenter/Little Village
Audrey Wiedemeier marches at the Bans Off Our Bodies protest. – Adria Carpenter/Little Village
Protestors hold up signs at the Bans Off Our Bodies protest. – Adria Carpenter/Little Village
A woman holds a coat hanger sign at the Bans Off Our Bodies protest. – Adria Carpenter/Little Village
Protestors march through downtown Iowa City, while onlookers cheer and shout. – Adria Carpenter/Little Village
Protesters walk down Gilbert Street, while passing cars honk in support. – Adria Carpenter/Little Village
Hundreds march down Iowa Avenue chanting, “They say, ‘Post-Roe.’ We say, ‘Hell no!'” – Adria Carpenter/Little Village
The crowd marches from the Old Capitol at the Bans Off Our Bodies protest. – Adria Carpenter/Little Village
