Iowa Coalition for Reproductive Freedom (ICRF) is a non-partisan coalition of physicians, community leaders and citizens who aim to provide facts and information to the public about reproductive freedom and patient autonomy when making personal, private medical decisions.
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This organization fills a vital need for women and families in Iowa. Iowans’ ability to exercise reproductive and bodily autonomy in their personal and private reproductive medical decisions has changed dramatically in the last two decades. Lawmakers in the Iowa Legislature have inserted themselves into the medical arena by limiting access for women to the full range of reproductive health care. The Iowa courts have upheld those limitations in several recent decisions. While family planning is a deeply personal and private decision, government interference in the lives of Iowans has reached anew pinnacle of public interest.
Iowa has not always been restrictive of individual rights. Iowa was an early supporter of women’s suffrage, and the first state in the nation to support women voting in school board elections. Iowa had strong support for women’s suffrage in state and national elections, being the tenth state in the nation to ratify the 19th amendment.
Iowa was the third state to legalize gay marriage, stemming from the 2009 unanimous court decision in Varnum v. Brien. Historically, Iowa has been in the top states in the nation for quality public education as measured by higher-than-average test scores, graduation rates and state funding.
Shifts in the last decade in the Iowa Supreme Court and legislature have eroded protections for individual freedoms. Although the actions of the Iowa legislature, governor and courts are contrary, research shows that a majority of Iowans support access to reproductive healthcare and abortion rights.
While the Supreme court currently considers a 6-week ban on abortion in the state, more than 61% of Iowans believe abortion should be legal in all or most circumstances. Further, new legislative proposals have been written to place so-called educational films in our public schools at the middle and high school levels that are not based on medical or scientific facts. Those films introduce unacceptable bias into public education in Iowa schools.
The ICRF intends to counter this misinformation with facts about reproductive freedom, health, and choices.
Beyond the medical facts of conception, pregnancy, and contraception, providing accurate information about reproductive freedom will include the social, economic, and psychological benefits of bodily autonomy. The board-certified physicians in ICRF can build greater understanding around key concepts while developing additional empathy and community among citizens who previously misunderstood or were misinformed about reproductive issues. The ICRF wants to bridge this educational divide.
Although in recent elections our moderate landscape has taken on a burgundy tint, the state remains very closely divided. In 2022, Iowa recorded the most expensive mid-term election cycle in history, with approximately $6.5 million spent –cheap, when you consider the $6.4 billion dollars that was spent on state-level races in 2022. The market for information, media, and education in Iowa is ripe.