History of Women's Rights Work

The ACLU of Iowa works to secure women's rights and to challenge institutions and systems that perpetuate gender discrimination and inequality.

We’ve fought against restrictions on reproductive freedom in Iowa for decades. Read more.

We urged lawmakers to pass an Iowa Pregnant Worker Fairness Act. It would clarify requirements that employers make reasonable accommodations for conditions related to pregnancy and childbirth—unless the employer can demonstrate that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the ordinary operation of the employer’s business. Find out more.

We filed a lawsuit for Iowa teen Nancy Doe asking the court to protect her from a local prosecutor’s threat of criminal charges for her taking and sending two non-nude photographs of herself to a boy at school. If taken by a boy, the same pictures would not have been punished. Read more.

With Law Students for Reproductive Justice and the Iowa Board of Law Examiners, we worked to allow reasonable accommodations like break time and a private, clean space for new moms taking the bar exam to breast-pump. Find out more.

We successfully worked to change the Iowa Department of Corrections's policy of shackling women prisoners during later pregnancy, after labor had begun, and in postpartum recovery. But legislation is still needed to protect women in the full range of conditions related to their pregnancies. Read more.

With partner organizations, we led the successful effort to pass the Right to Assistance Bill, so domestic violence victims and others are not intimidated to call 911. For more information, click here.