Students for Reproductive Justice (SRJ) members said they struggled to engage Iowa lawmakers during Planned Parenthood’s annual lobbying day at the Iowa State Capitol. The club’s participation was organized by this semester’s SRJ co-leaders Adrienne Gassaway `28, Amelie Pfister `28 and Annabel Andre `28.
“The big aim of lobby day is to speak directly to representatives and try to further the objectives Planned Parenthood has to keep reproductive rights in Iowa,” Gassaway said. “But I think also, the bigger objective is just to show that there is a large group of people who are supporting reproductive rights.”
SRJ members advocated against two bills — House File 2563, which would place additional restrictions on abortion medication, and Senate File 304, which would require parental consent for minors to receive the HPV vaccine.
The lobbying day is an annual effort that SRJ participates in with other university students from Iowa. Students said the experience also highlighted the slow nature of the legislative process.
“One of the things I found surprising was the fact that one of the bills that we were lobbying for this time was exactly the same bill as the one we were lobbying for last time which I wasn’t really expecting,” Pfister said. “Like, you would think that bills that were being voted on last year, this time, would either be passed or not.”
The co-leaders said that the group experienced difficulties when attempting to speak with Iowa State Senator Annette Sweeney (R-Iowa Falls) and Representative Dean Fisher (R-Montour) during the event.
At the Capitol, pages run between the chamber doors to deliver notes from constituents to lawmakers. Visitors can request that their representative come out to speak with them or leave informational materials.
“When we handed in our notes to speak to [Sweeney], the person who was running back and forth, he told us she’s probably not going to come out,” Andre said.
Other groups, such as pharmacy students who were advocating for a different bill, were invited into the chamber to speak with their representatives, according to Gassaway.
“I think it just shows a disparity a little bit in, like, the issues that their representatives are willing to talk about,” Gassaway said.
In an email to The S&B, Sweeney wrote, “I want to apologize for not being able to meet with your SRJ leaders while they were at the Capitol.”
She added that she voted in favor of SF 120, now numbered SF 304, in the 2025 Health and Human Service Committee. Sweeney wrote, “I want to share that I voted in favor of this bill because it is able to align parental consent with other vaccines under Iowa law.”
She wrote that this bill does not prohibit access to HPV or Hepatitis vaccines for minors but allows parents and legal guardians to have the awareness of medical decisions for their child seeking treatment for an STD or STI.
Kristina Nguyen `29, one of the student participants, recounted a separate interaction with Fisher where the group had difficulty getting his attention. “And there’s probably like 50 people standing around with Planned Parenthood pink shirts on,”
she said. “It’s not like we were being subtle.”
“We had sent him messages and they were piling up on his table,” Nguyen said. “He came out, didn’t look around, and just beelined somewhere, so we had to chase him down and get his attention.”
Nguyen said Fisher responded that he had not yet looked into the issue but would do his best. The students then gave him a card outlining the two bills they were advocating against and their concerns as constituents.
“We go up to the chamber and then we just watch because our interaction is over, but we see him basically throw out the paper,” Nguyen said.
Fisher did not respond to requests for comment by The S&B.
“Our biggest frustration that came out of this lobby day, and our last lobby day as well, is that representatives are there to talk to their constituents,” Andre said. “Refusing to talk to us or like us having to chase them down and kind of force them to talk to us is not how that should be.”
SRJ members also pointed to polling that shows about 80 percent of Iowans want the Iowa State Legislature to focus on issues such as housing affordability and the cost of health care rather than legislation restricting abortion.
Pfister said the group plans to continue organizing ways for students to stay involved in contacting their representatives.
“We are planning on having an event where we will help students set up a recurring email,” Pfister said. “It’s a very low effort way for students to stay in contact and show their representative what they want.”
“Our view of the legislative landscape of Iowa right now has shifted a little bit,” Gassaway said. “Stuff this year that seems super radical and crazy, it can become legislation the next year.”
