Or, Taking Thunderfuck Mountain by Strategy: Enter the Wyrm King One. I am prone on the table, awake, naked and aware. The light is open and white, as are the gypsum ceiling tiles and what bit of the upper walls I can make out. I am not restrained, but I don’t think to move. My […]
Reproductive Rights
Iowa House Republicans push through an amendment to add anti-abortion language to the Iowa Constitution
Shortly after 9 on Wednesday night, the Republican-controlled Iowa House of Representatives passed a constitutional amendment to eliminate the existing protection for abortion rights in Iowa. The vote was 55-44, with three Republicans — Jane Bloomingdale of Northwood, Lee Hein of Monticello and David Maxwell of Gibson — joining all the chamber’s Democrats in opposing […]
Judge blocks Iowa’s new 24-hour abortion waiting period from going into effect
A Johnson County District Court judge issued a temporary injunction on Tuesday blocking enforcement of the new 24-hour waiting period for abortions passed by the Iowa legislature last month. The waiting period was scheduled to take effect on July 1. “We’re glad that patients can seek abortion care without the burden of a state-mandated delay […]
Planned Parenthood and ACLU of Iowa file a lawsuit challenging new abortion restriction passed by Iowa lawmakers
Planned Parenthood of the Heartland and the ACLU of Iowa filed a lawsuit seeking to stop a new restriction on abortion passed by the Iowa legislature earlier this month. A bill fast-tracked by Republican leaders in the legislature and passed only hours after it was introduced would mandate a 24-hour waiting period by requiring a […]
Republicans push through new abortion restriction in Iowa legislature’s last session of 2020
Republicans in the Iowa legislature fast-tracked a bill imposing a 24-hour waiting period on women seeking an abortion. The bill was passed just hours after the new waiting period was first introduced. The quick series of votes came during the final session of the year for both the Iowa House of Representatives and the Iowa […]
Planned Parenthood seeks injunction against Gov. Reynolds’ ban on surgical abortions (Updated)
Update: The Reynolds administration backed off its attempt ban all surgical abortions in Iowa under the governor’s emergency ordering prohibiting “nonessential or elective surgeries and procedures that utilize personal protective equipment,” before the starting of a Wednesday afternoon hearing on the Planned Parenthood of Heartland’s request for an emergency injunction. “Rita Bettis Austen, legal director […]
Gov. Reynolds is attempting to ban surgical abortions as ‘nonessential’ medical procedures during COVID-19 crisis
On Thursday, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed an emergency proclamation that, among other things, banned all “nonessential or elective surgeries and procedures that utilize personal protective equipment” for the duration of the COVID-19 emergency in the state. On Friday, the governor’s spokesperson told Barbara Rodriguez of the Des Moines Register that ban includes surgical abortions. In […]
Letter to the editor: The tangled concept of personhood
Personhood? Who has recently tangled themselves in that labyrinth and fallen for the heartbeat cliche? And how ironic that the Christians, for millennia the purveyors of patriarchal prejudice and, too often, downright hate, with its resulting mayhem, how ironic that they have fixated on the heart as an indicator of anything.
Shop, sip wine and support Planned Parenthood on Wednesday at the third annual Born After Roe + Raygun mixer
For the third year, Born After Roe (BAR) and Raygun are partnering to a hold a mixer at Raygun’s Cedar Rapids store. The event raises money for Planned Parenthood of the Heartland. “It’s raised an average of $4,500 each year,” Jessalyn Holdcraft, steering committee chair for BAR, told Little Village.
Judge strikes down Iowa’s ‘fetal heartbeat’ law
A district court judge in Polk County struck down Iowa’s so-called “fetal heartbeat” law on Tuesday. Judge Michael Huppert ruled the law, which banned almost all abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected at six weeks, violates the state’s constitution. “We are grateful the Court blocked Gov. Reynolds’ egregious attempt to ban safe, legal […]
Raygun is hosting a poster show to support abortion access for Iowa women
Art will be a medium for activism at the Cedar Rapids Access Poster Show on Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. Hosted by Raygun at its Cedar Rapids store in the NewBo District, proceeds from the event will benefit the Iowa Abortion Access Fund .
ACLU of Iowa, Planned Parenthood and the Emma Goldman Clinic sue to overturn Iowa’s new abortion law
Update: On June 1, Polk County District Court Judge Michael Huppert issued a temporary injunction blocking enforcement of the new abortion law at the conclusion of the first hearing on the lawsuit. Attorneys representing the state did not object to the injunction. A court challenge to Iowa’s new law banning most abortions after a fetal […]

