Reproductive Justice

As Sister Song defined it, reproductive justice is “the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities.” The Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson to eliminate federal protection of the right to abortion threatens abortion access and has been used as justification for threats to gender-affirming care. In June 2022, the Iowa Supreme Court also reversed a prior decision, arguing the Iowa Constitution does not protect the right to abortion. A measure on the 2024 ballot could make the denial of this right explicit in the Iowa Constitution and open a pathway for the passage of the “fetal heartbeat” bill which would ban abortions after 6 weeks. Abortion bans disproportionately harm young people, Black and Indigenous people, people with disabilities, members of the LGBTQ community, and people with low incomes and exacerbate the lack of structural support available to parents.

COGS is working to make the University of Iowa act to protect students’ and workers’ access to contraception, abortion, and medical privacy; provide adequate support for trans students and workers and student and employee parents; and call for the federal and state government to guarantee these protections. If you support these goals, please sign our petition.

Get Involved

There are lots of ways to support the fight for reproductive justice on and off campus!