Iowans for Reproductive Freedom Rally

The Movement is Growing

I attended the Iowans for Reproductive Freedom Rally at the State Capitol on Sunday. Some media reports say thousands were there; others say several hundred. All I know is that it was crowded and hot. There were speeches, of course, that ranged from inspirational to horrifying. Several women told their abortion stories, with crowd responses ranging from comforting to angry.

As I walked through the crowd, I thought that many attendees had their own abortion stories turning over in their heads as they listened to the speakers—probably ten times more than the number of speakers on the stage.

One person told their abortion story on their sign.

The crowd simmered with quiet rage. Driving to Des Moines on the way to the rally, I thought there might be counter-protestors. There was no police presence. One young man on patrol was with a private security firm. I saw him speak briefly with a man in plain clothes with a radio, whom he later told me was his boss. I asked him if he had seen any people protesting the protest. He replied, “maybe three, but they left quickly.”

Democratic candidate for Governor Deidre DeJear was there, and she told me what she saw as she observed the rally:

“We have a turnout; I'm talking to folks from all over the state of Iowa, I see a mixture of generations, I see a mixture of different types of communities, people of color; there are a lot of folks that are aligned on this issue.”

The hope is that the alignment across so many groups will bring a considerable punch to the ballot box.

DeJear wasn’t there to speak but to listen:

“As you can imagine, there's a lot going on in my head because I see a lot going on with folks out here in this space. So, I'm just going to sit in this for a moment, because it’s important to be here amongst people to see how they feel related to the decisions of leadership, and we see right now in these moments that people are not pleased with the current leadership of Governor Reynolds.”

I took only a couple of minutes of her time because other people wanted to talk to her, but here is our brief conversation in full. Listen also if you want to know how the rally felt.

People love Deidre. I mean, LOVE her. She could only move a few feet at a time before someone else would want to talk with her, embrace her, and tell her how much Iowa needs her.

I caught up with Democratic Senate candidate Admiral Michael Franken, and we headed to the shade. He told me he was taking a day off, but here he was.

He told me, “we must not let this go because this has long-term consequences for both women and fledgling families…I believe that those women that are my age that have been fighting this their entire lives, and the slow encroachment that the Republicans have done needs to get turned around…rolling back Roe is not progress for America, it's regressive, and I hope to be part of the solution as we codify Roe.”

One of the more interesting parts of the day was reading the signs people were carrying. Messages on printed signs tended to be straightforward and familiar. While the quest for reproductive rights is an old movement, we are entering a new era, and the plethora of new messaging on the handmade signs shows this. I didn’t think about this until I was driving home, or I would have taken more photos. Many were clever, and some were delightfully vulgar.

Next time. The rally felt like a new beginning, and that power was building.