'More than abortion': Girls Just Want to Have Fundamental Human Rights protests planned in Burlington

A group of Burlington women is organizing a protest in response to the Supreme Court's decision overturning the nationwide right to abortion.

Two Girls Just Want to Have Fundamental Rights protests will be held Tuesday in downtown Burlington, one at 10 a.m. and another at 6 p.m.

The first of the gatherings will be held outside the Des Moines County Courthouse. There, attendees will listen to a handful of speakers. Attendees also will have the opportunity to speak themselves.

The second protest will begin at the bottom of Snake Alley. From there, attendees will march to the riverfront, gathering behind the Memorial Auditorium, where a microphone will be open to those who wish to speak.

Speakers are encouraged to share their own stories, opinions and/or ideas on how to further their efforts for access to safe abortions.

The event will be family-friendly, organizers said, and will last as long as it needs to for everyone who wishes to speak to be able to do so, so long as it remains peaceful.

Kelli Edwards, one of the organizers for the event, said signs are encouraged.

"I feel like to make an impact, it has to be more than just your voice, and one of those things is by making signs," Edwards said.

Edwards, 17, is the president of the Women's Alliance Club at West Burlington High School, where she will be a senior this fall.

Edwards and other club members had been planning on organizing a smaller-scale event after the May 2 leak of the Supreme Court's draft opinion.

"It was going to be a little family event, because at the time, we didn't know if it was going to be officially overturned," Edwards said.

When the Supreme Court justices handed down their opinion on Friday, Edwards reached out to Tenyshia Redd, one of the organizers of the June 2, 2020, march against racism in response to the death of George Floyd, seeking guidance on how to help her generation's voice be heard.

More: Peaceful protest unites Burlington against racism

"All over the news, you've heard from adults, you've heard from Supreme Court justices, you've even heard from the president," Edwards said. "But you haven't really heard from teenagers, so it feels really nice to be the voice of our generation.

"People think that we have no clue what we're talking about or that we don't know what's going on outside of our own little world. But the thing is is we do, and that's what makes us so fired up — not even angry any more, but fired up — to do this because we know what we're talking about. We know what rights are being taken away from us. And now is our time to use our voices to help solve this problem."

Redd was contacted by other women wanting to organize an event. Among them was Shelby Kuntzweiler, a mother of two who is studying to become a cosmetologist.

Kuntzweiler believes the overturning of Roe v. Wade is a step back for women's rights.

"It just feels like we've come so far and were so close to being considered equal, and now all of a sudden, our rights are stripped away again, and who knows where we're going to end up," Kuntzweiler said.

Kuntzweiler has been an admirer of women's rights advocates throughout history. Now, she said, she's proud to take on that role herself so she can show her daughter to stand up for what she believes in.

Despite the leaked draft opinion, Allison Reichert still found herself feeling shocked by the loss of a federal right that has been in place since 1973, especially at a time when so much of the federal government is under Democratic control.

She joined the Iowans for Bodily Autonomy Facebook page, where she saw several people express interest in participating in a Burlington protest and statewide gatherings and demonstrations being planned for July 5.

After a few days had passed with no announcement of a Burlington event, Reichert took it upon herself to organize one. Like Kuntzweiler and Edwards, she reached out to Redd, who connected the organizers and offered advice and guidance.

"We were able to combine our efforts to make a more official gathering time," Reichert said. "It isn't even a pro-abortion issue. I think the vast majority of people who are fighting for bodily autonomy are pro-choice. It's not anyone else's place to tell an individual what they can and cannot do with their body."

Reichert, Kuntzweiler and Edwards said the overturning of Roe v. Wade is about more than abortion itself and goes beyond even the loss of women's bodily autonomy. It's about access to appropriate health care and concerns over the future of gay and minority rights.

Thus far, it does not appear as though Iowa is headed for an all-out abortion ban, though limits have been proposed.

Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds on Tuesday called for a district court to lift an injunction on a so-called fetal heartbeat law she signed in 2018. That law, which would ban abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy, never took effect and was ruled unconstitutional in 2019.

More: Kim Reynolds seeks to revive Iowa's 6-week 'heartbeat' abortion ban after Roe v. Wade overturn

"We want to say it's just going to be abortions, but in reality, we all know it's going to be more than abortions," Edwards said. "It's going to end up being a sexuality thing. It's going to end up being a racism or gender equality or ethnicity thing. And that's what's really sad, and this is only the beginning of a downfall."

Reichert, a youth services library assistant, pointed to proposed legislation in other states targeting the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals and indicated she is concerned about the future of gay marriage and the continuation of an apparent trend of religion bleeding into government.

More: 'Deeply hurtful': More states make it harder for LGBTQ people to foster or adopt children

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"It's just such a basic concept regardless of someone's religious or moral beliefs," she said. "Regardless of what someone's religious beliefs are, that does not allow them to dictate federal law for everyone else who lives in our society."

Thus far, none of the organizers have heard of a planned counter-protest. Kuntzweiler said both the courthouse and the Burlington Police Department have been notified of the coming demonstrations.

Michaele Niehaus covers business, development, environment and agriculture for The Hawk Eye. She can be reached at mniehaus@thehawkeye.com.

This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: What to know about Burlington women's rights protests July 5