Category: Abortion Is Health Care - PACG - Progressive Action for the Common Good

"How Pregnancy is Policed" - Of Interest to our Community

8/23/2024

How Pregnancy is Policed: Your Questions Answered

Gender Equity Forum

From Bolts: Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago, the legal risks that come from merely being pregnant have shot up in the United States.

Alongside the new bans on abortion, laws have popped up to encourage people to snitch on their neighbors and empower prosecutors to file criminal charges. So-called personhood laws are exposing more people to heightened punishment, plus endangering access to other procedures like IVF. The Republican Party has proposed scaling that up further by codifying ‘personhood’ at the federal level.

But pregnancy was policed long before the Dobbs decision came down. Even under Roe, many women faced arrest and prosecution due to allegations over how they handled their pregnancy. Read this important article on the Bolts website here.

Abortion Rights Solidarity Circle in Davenport - Action Alert!

6/27/2024

Call to Action! Solidarity Circle for Abortion Rights
Friday at 6:00 pm

Lafayette Park
700 W 4th ST
Davenport, IA (map)Gender Equity Forum

Planned Parenthood of the North Central States

The Iowa Supreme Court decision on the six-week abortion ban will be released on Friday, June 28th. The six-week ban was passed in 2018 but was found to be unconstitutional and never went into effect. Republican lawmakers passed another six-week abortion ban in June 2023, but an injunction was placed on the ban by the Iowa Supreme Court. On Friday the Court will decide whether to let the ban go into effect or not.

In response to the upcoming Iowa Supreme Court decision, Planned Parenthood has organized a rally either in celebration of our retained rights of reproductive freedom or against the cruelty of imposing an abortion ban in Iowa. We firmly believe that reproductive decisions need to be made between an individual and their health care provider. The government should not intervene in any way.

The Gender Equity forum of PACG invites you and your friends to join other supporters of reproductive rights in Lafayette Park at 6:00 pm. We will gather and walk down 4th ST during rush hour for maximum visibility. Planned Parenthood will have plenty of signs in case you don't have your own.

In solidarity!

Alta Price

Women's March Day of Action - What You Can Do Now

6/18/2024

Women's March National Day of Action in Davenport
Saturday, June 22nd at 11:00 am

Vander Veer Botanical Park
215 W Central Park Ave
Davenport, IA (map)

Women's March, Gender Equity Forum

The Women's March is promoting events across the nation this June to support women's reproductive healthcare and freedoms. The Davenport event will be Saturday, June 22nd at Vander Veer Park in Davenport (Note: the Women's March has declared June 24th the National Day of Action but in Davenport we will rally on June 22nd). Given that women in Iowa are on the brink of losing their reproductive rights, the Gender Equity Forum urges you to attend this rally! Please sign up in advance to let the organizer know you are coming, in case there are weather-related changes.

Alta Price

SPLC report on Anti-Abortion Extremism - Of Interest to our Community

6/18/2024

Southern Poverty Law Center report on Anti-Abortion Extremism

Gender Equity Forum

The Gender Equity Forum recommends this report from the Southern Poverty Law Center - Anti-Abortion Extremism: Inside the Movement Dismantling Our Reproductive Rights. The report contains a wealth of useful information, including The Movement's Extremist Playbook, The Violent History of the Anti-Abortion Movement, Increasingly, Clinics are Targets, The Community Cost of Abortion Bans, and much more.

Alta Price

IA ACLU Reproductive Team - Action Alert

6/18/2024

Sign Up for the Iowa ACLU Reproductive Rights Team - Action Alert

Gender Equity Forum

Within a few weeks the Iowa Supreme Court will decide whether to allow the near-total abortion ban passed by the legislature to go into effect. The Iowa ACLU has been coordinating statewide efforts to fight for reproductive freedom, and the Gender Equity Forum has been working with them. Once the court decision is announced, we need to be prepared to act quickly. We trust that the ACLU will guide us in taking any appropriate actions.

In the meantime, join the Iowa ACLU Reproductive Rights team. This link takes you to a place to join the team (scroll down on that page). As a member of the team, you will be kept updated and informed of actions you can take to help.

Alta Price

IA ACLU September Challenge Drop In - PACG Event

9/12/2023

IA ACLU September Challenge Drop In
Saturday, September 16th from 3:00 to 5:00 pm

Bettendorf home

Gender Equity ForumWe are working with Iowa ACLU to gather signatures for their September Challenge - Reproductive Freedom for All. Read our blog post here. Drop in to get informational materials and learn how to collect signatures for this important initiative.

Contact me for information about this event.

Alta Price

Iowa ACLU September Challenge: Sign the Reproductive Freedom for All Statement

9/2/2023

Iowa ACLU September Challenge: Get twice as many people to sign the Reproductive Freedom for All statement!

iowa_aclu_reproductive_freedom_statement_sign-up.pdf
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The Gender Equity Forum needs you to participate in this September Challenge from the Iowa American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). This is a statewide effort to double the signatures they have collected so far from 2,000 to 4,000. The Iowa Quad Cities needs to do its part to meet this challenge!

The statement is:

I believe all Iowans have the right to make our own decisions about our bodies, lives and futures - free from government control. Therefore, I expect my elected officials to do everything in their power to protect & defend reproductive freedom in our state, including access to safe and legal abortion.

If you live in Iowa and agree with this statement, go here to sign. The signatures will be collected by the Iowa ACLU to share with your state legislators.

Share this blog post with your friends and family and get them to sign, too. You can also download a sign-up sheet (above) with the Reproductive Freedom Statement to collect signatures that way. Please scan or photograph the sheet when you are done and send it to me to forward to ACLU Iowa.

Alta Price

Vigil for Reproductive Freedom - Of Interest to Our Forum Members

6/20/2023

Vigil for Reproductive Freedom

Vander Veer Park
215 W Central Park
Davenport, IA (map)

Gender Equity Forum

One year ago the US Supreme Court's Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade, removing the constitutional right to abortion. The Gender Equity Forum invites you to join others in a community vigil to commemorate this loss.

Alta Price

"Abortion IS Healthcare - A Public Health Discussion" - Of Interest to Our Forum Members

4/29/2023

Abortion IS Healthcare - A Public Health Discussion
Thursday, May 11th at 6:30 pm

The Village Theatre
2113 E 11th ST
Davenport, IA (map)

Quad Science

Join us for a community-building event to hear from field experts who will provide evidence-based information about abortion and its role in healthcare. “Abortion is Healthcare: A Public Health Discussion,” will take place Thursday, May 11th at 6:30 p.m. at the Village Theatre in Davenport, IA.

This free event will feature a talk by Dr. Lena Hann, an associate professor of public health at Augustana College and abortion researcher. Following the talk, there will be a discussion and Q&A session with a panel of experts including Allie Wampler, a women's health nurse practitioner, abortion nurse, and sexual assault nurse examiner.

We, the organizers of the event, are local nursing students. We were inspired to put together this evening of speakers after representatives from a local crisis pregnancy center came to speak at our school. Their presentation included several points of misinformation about abortion. We wanted to take action to make evidence-based information on this topic available to members of the public, as well as to future members of the healthcare professions

Facebook event link: https://tinyurl.com/abortionishealthcareqc

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us at [email protected]

We appreciate your consideration and hope to see you on May 11th.

Lara Lee Paxton, M.P.H.

Lobby Day for Abortion - After Action Report

4/10/2023

Lobby Day in Des Moines for Abortion Rights -
After Action Report
Tuesday, March 21st

PAG Gender Equity Forum

Two Gender Equity Forum facilitators, Dr. Alta Price (me) and Dr. Carolyn Martin, traveled to Des Moines for the Planned Parenthood Lobby Day on March 21st. A van of folks came from the Iowa Quad Cities as well. There were well over a hundred activists talking with their legislators.

Although none of the anti-abortion restrictions proposed so far this year has a chance of passing, this is only because Republican leadership is waiting on a case before the Iowa Supreme Court that could reinstate a 6 week abortion ban passed in 2018 that was enjoined by the Iowa Supreme Court. Governor Reynolds has asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its injunction. So we lobbied our legislators to support “over-the-counter birth control pills” (actually pharmacist-prescribed oral contraceptives) and expanding Medicaid coverage for pregnant people to extend for 12 months after delivery. There were two other legislative proposals we asked them to oppose.

For me the most interesting part was meeting the other activists. I was especially impressed by the medical students from the University of Iowa.

It was also great to meet and talk with my new Iowa State Senator, Scott Webster. He was very friendly and receptive. He was in support of the over-the-counter birth control pills; in fact, he had already voted in favor of that proposal. Carolyn did a great job of explaining that people need insurance coverage for at least 12 months after delivery to deal with any pregnancy complications. He seemed to appreciate the information she gave him.

Here is some WHO 13 television coverage of the event.

Alta Price