Essential Estrogen

The varied age groups and socioeconomic levels in the reception hall for the 2008 Choice Dinner held at Iowa Memorial Union on the University of Iowa campus wasn't an unnoticed detail among those attending the event.

"We're here because we've been coming to this event for probably 20 years -- maybe more," said Nancy Lynch of Solon, who is a past volunteer and longtime monetary supporter of the Emma Goldman Clinic in Iowa City. "We think the cause is one that is very important and one that should be supported."

Looking around the room, Lynch said that "a long time ago" the dinners were primarily attended by young people, of which she was one.

"Tonight is interesting because most of the older people I know who have been here aren't here [this year]," she said. "It's mostly young people and I think that's fabulous."

The Choice Dinner is an annual event, the proceeds of which benefit Emma Goldman Clinic, the first women-owned and -operated health care center in the Midwest and the first outpatient abortion clinic in Iowa. The clinic was opened in September 1973, eight months after the U.S. Supreme Court declared that the right to choose an abortion is constitutionally guaranteed.

Proceeds from the dinner support the deProsse Access Fund for women living on lower incomes. Costs associated with the dinner are financed by local businesses, individuals and like-minded groups such as the Iowa City Human Rights Commission, Law Students for Reproductive Justice, American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, League of Women Voters of Johnson County, Iowa City Area National Organization of Women, Medical Students for Choice, and the Women's Resource and Action Center.

"While the event directly supports Emma Goldman, it wouldn't be possible without the support and collaboration of others," said Karen Kubby, the clinic's executive director. "As we observe the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade tonight, we are also honoring all the local groups who work on the behalf of women."

Lynch attended the event with her husband, Richard, who said that both their children have also been instrumental in the fight to maintain a woman's right to choose. Their daughter was one of the students who helped to found Medical Students for Choice and their son spoke out against those who picketed the clinic.

Beryl Shahan, a longtime women's issues activist in Iowa, drove with friends from Mount Pleasant to attend the dinner for the first time.

"I've served on the Planned Parenthood Board in southeast Iowa, and of course choice is something that has always been very important to me," Shahan, a former city councilwoman, said after the event. She went on to lament how many laws currently under consideration could serve as roadblocks to women seeking an abortion.

"As far as abortion services, Iowa City or Des Moines are really the only options for women living in southeast Iowa," she said. "So, when people start discussing a 24-hour waiting period or other limitations, it concerns me. That's the type of thing that would be a great obstacle for most people. If a woman is having trouble coming up with the money for an abortion, she would most likely also have trouble coming up with the added cost of a hotel stay. It is an extra and unnecessary burden."

Shahan said that she too was happy to see so many young people in attendance.

"I'm certainly glad to see that the movement is alive and well," she said. "It's good to see that others are recognizing the very real threats we have with the current Supreme Court. ... We're not alone -- in Mount Pleasant sometimes you can think that you are."

The sentiment of being in a place with others who share similar beliefs was echoed by first-year medical student Morgyn Beckman, a member of Medical Students for Choice.

"It's amazing. Sometimes you don't realize how many other people out there think the same thing as you," she said. "It's refreshing to be somewhere that everyone believes similarly as you do."

Both Beckman and Tess Stoffer, who is also a first-year medical student, agreed that when they made their career choice, they wanted to be able to provide women with any services that might be needed. Both women joined Medical Students for Choice, a group they didn't know existed, after beginning their studies at the University of Iowa.

"I feel really empowered," Stoffer said before leaving the event. "It was an enjoyable evening, and it felt really good to be surrounded by people who are supportive."

Attendees Brian and Emily Goedde said they came to this, their first Choice Dinner, because they were invited and also because they had used the clinic's services, an experience Brian wrote about for the New York Times magazine.

"I used the clinic as a resource -- when I started to write about the experience," Brian Goedde said. "I wanted to know how much we should be concerned about safety issues and that sort of thing if the piece was published... We've gotten some responses -- a lot positive, a lot negative. I used Emma Goldman, in particular Karen Kubby, as a resource to prepare us for -- well, to prepare us in particular for the negative responses."

In addition to supporting the clinic that supported them, the Goeddes said they were happy to have heard the event's keynote speaker, Judy Norsigian, who is executive director and a founder of the Boston Women's Health Book Collective (which does business under the name Our Bodies, Ourselves).

"I liked when [Norsigian] talked about finding allies in surprising places," Brian Goedde said. "I think that's a great message. There are groups that we might be afraid to approach, but, if we do, maybe we'll find allies for choice there."

Emily Goedde said she appreciated Norsigian's remarks because they made her feel like one part of a larger experience.

"I liked having the aspect of learning about history," she said. "It was learning about the history of the movement and learning how you are part of this longer period of time, and how we all need to keep working to make things change. It's not just something in the past; it's a continuous struggle. Things have changed. Issues have changed. But it is always up to us when it comes to women's health care."