This year's RAGBRAI route is 428 miles, starting in Onawa and ending in Davenport. As we embark on this 7-day adventure, we're riding across a state whose legislators seem determined to challenge national abortion laws, and, in doing so, have limited Planned Parenthood's ability to provide affordable education, reproductive healthcare, and support to people across the spectrum of gender identity and expression. So we're riding RAGBRAI to raise awareness (and money) in support of the good work that Planned Parenthood does.
Our goal is to raise $4 for each mile we ride July 22-28.
In early May, 2018, Iowa passed the nationa's strictest abortion law, banning abortions as soon as any embryonic cardiac activity is detected, which usually happens at around six weeks. A judge issued a temporary injunction on the law in early June after Planned Parenthood and the ACLU of Iowa filed a lawsuit arguing that the law is unconstitutional.
But Planned Parenthood of the Heartland was already under attack by Iowa legislators.
In 2017, Iowa defunded Planned Parenthood by discontinuing participation in the federal Medicaid family planning network; the state declined about $3 million in federal funding and instead created its own family planning network which excludes all clinics that provide abortions.
Lawmakers argued that this would provide more access to reproductive healthcare among women who live in rural areas. Instead, access has declined. When the law took effect in July, 2017, 8,200 people were enrolled in the program; by March, 2018, that number was 5,300.
Family planning includes so much more than abortions.
Planned Parenthood of the Heartland provides pelvic exams, STD and HIV testing, pap smears, pregnancy tests, birth control, and also offers homone therapy and ongoing care to transgender people. All fees are sliding scale, with many low-income individuals receiving care for free.
Please join us in supporting Planned Parenthood of the Heartland as they fight to protect people's control over their reproductive health.
Suggested donations:
$21.40 is $0.05 per mile
$42.80 is $0.10 per mile
$107.00 is $0.25 per mile
$214.00 is $0.50 per mile
$428.00 is $1.00 per mile
