Four Iowa Supreme Court justices who upheld Iowa’s six-week abortion ban are real history buffs.
Basically, the majority ruled fundamental rights must be “deeply rooted” in Iowa’s “history and tradition.” And the right to abortion access, granted by the U, S, Supreme Court in 1973, is too recent to be considered a fundamental right in Iowa.
“We then analyzed the state’s treatment of abortion throughout its history, a right to an abortion, as the historical record shows, is not rooted at all in our state’s history and tradition, let alone “deeply rooted,” Justice Michael McDermott, wrote in the majority opinion, Joined by Justices Christopher McDonald, David May and Dana Oxley.
“The deep roots that exist show not protection for abortion rights but common law and statutory prohibitions on abortion from the very beginning through modern times. Abortion became a crime in Iowa “just six months after the effective date of the Iowa Constitution — and remained generally illegal until Roe v. Wade … decided over one hundred years later,” the majority argued.
Chief Justice Susan Christensen, in her dissent, begged to differ.
“By exclusively relying on the text of our constitution that was adopted in 1857 and our state’s history and tradition to conclude that abortion is not a fundamental right, the majority perpetuates the gendered hierarchies of old when women were second-class citizens,” Christensen wrote.
“While I agree that we should look to Iowa’s history and tradition to determine the framers’ intent and guide our analysis, the rights of Iowans did not freeze once our state constitution took effect. Today’s decision risks limiting our interpretation to conditions as they existed in the mid-19th century, eliminating rights from our constitution in the process” Christensen wrote.
So, what do our deeply rooted traditions look like? I explored our archives.
On April 1, 1880, an inquest was underway into the death of Clara Matthews, who died of blood poisoning that was the direct result of an abortion. The man who was accused of performing the abortion, Dr. Reid, hired a “noted” criminal attorney in Chicago.
On Jan. 3, 1893, the Evening Gazette wrote about the “most peculiar circumstances” in the death of 18-year-old Miss Rosa Severa. Servera worked at the Arcade hotel and fell ill at work.
Dr. Fitzgerald rushed to the hotel.
“On Christmas night I received a phone message to go to the Arcade hotel as fast as possible and attend a young girl who was thought to be dying. Upon my arrival immediately discovered that she was having a premature birth,” the doctor was quoted.
“The next morning, I asked her if she had taken anything or been given anything to produce an abortion. She firmly denied having done such a thing and alleged that a young man who is now in Iowa City was responsible for her condition,” the doctor said.
Her parents took her home. But Rosa died overnight after “a terrible hemorrhage.”
The Feb. 18, 1897, Evening Gazette carried news of the death of local schoolteacher, Miss Belle Sutliff, 28. An “antemortem” showed evidence a pregnancy had been aborted, but the physician who had been caring for Sutliff said it was a fall on the ice that caused the abortion.
In October 1907, Irene Blydenberg, died of septic peritonitis after “either a criminal or a natural abortion.” Her boyfriend was charged, but he swore their relationship was just “platonic.”
In July 1909, the state board of parole was considering a recommendation that J.W. Crofford be released from prison. Crofford was a wealthy man who owned a sanitarium in Lamoni. It was claimed the sanitarium “made a specialty of abortion cases.” Crofford was convicted in the death of Maude Stono, who died after a “criminal operation.”
So, that’s sample of our deep history. “The state’s interest in protecting the unborn can be traced to Iowa’s earliest days.” The majority wrote, pointing to an 1868 ruling.
But our history killed Clara Matthews, Rosa Severa, Belle Sutliff, Irene Blydenberg and Maude Stono. They were second-class citizens who had no right to safely terminate their pregnancies. They were at the mercy of butchers and quacks. Cowardly men dodged responsibility.
Sure, the new abortion law contains no criminal penalties. But make no mistake, Iowa women will die. Maybe it will be a botched procedure, or maybe a woman will have to wait for help until her physicians decide she’s on the brink of death and can receive legal abortion care.
This is a ruling searching for a rationale. Go back into history and you can find justification for just about anything. Naturally, the court majority picked a period before women, Black Iowans and others pushed for equality and won hard-fought victories.
Being students of history, I’m sure the court majority knows what happened. And yet, they’re still taking us back to it. We understand the history, and yet, we’re doomed to repeat it.
(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com
www.thegazette.com
Basically, the majority ruled fundamental rights must be “deeply rooted” in Iowa’s “history and tradition.” And the right to abortion access, granted by the U, S, Supreme Court in 1973, is too recent to be considered a fundamental right in Iowa.
“We then analyzed the state’s treatment of abortion throughout its history, a right to an abortion, as the historical record shows, is not rooted at all in our state’s history and tradition, let alone “deeply rooted,” Justice Michael McDermott, wrote in the majority opinion, Joined by Justices Christopher McDonald, David May and Dana Oxley.
“The deep roots that exist show not protection for abortion rights but common law and statutory prohibitions on abortion from the very beginning through modern times. Abortion became a crime in Iowa “just six months after the effective date of the Iowa Constitution — and remained generally illegal until Roe v. Wade … decided over one hundred years later,” the majority argued.
Chief Justice Susan Christensen, in her dissent, begged to differ.
“By exclusively relying on the text of our constitution that was adopted in 1857 and our state’s history and tradition to conclude that abortion is not a fundamental right, the majority perpetuates the gendered hierarchies of old when women were second-class citizens,” Christensen wrote.
“While I agree that we should look to Iowa’s history and tradition to determine the framers’ intent and guide our analysis, the rights of Iowans did not freeze once our state constitution took effect. Today’s decision risks limiting our interpretation to conditions as they existed in the mid-19th century, eliminating rights from our constitution in the process” Christensen wrote.
So, what do our deeply rooted traditions look like? I explored our archives.
On April 1, 1880, an inquest was underway into the death of Clara Matthews, who died of blood poisoning that was the direct result of an abortion. The man who was accused of performing the abortion, Dr. Reid, hired a “noted” criminal attorney in Chicago.
On Jan. 3, 1893, the Evening Gazette wrote about the “most peculiar circumstances” in the death of 18-year-old Miss Rosa Severa. Servera worked at the Arcade hotel and fell ill at work.
Dr. Fitzgerald rushed to the hotel.
“On Christmas night I received a phone message to go to the Arcade hotel as fast as possible and attend a young girl who was thought to be dying. Upon my arrival immediately discovered that she was having a premature birth,” the doctor was quoted.
“The next morning, I asked her if she had taken anything or been given anything to produce an abortion. She firmly denied having done such a thing and alleged that a young man who is now in Iowa City was responsible for her condition,” the doctor said.
Her parents took her home. But Rosa died overnight after “a terrible hemorrhage.”
The Feb. 18, 1897, Evening Gazette carried news of the death of local schoolteacher, Miss Belle Sutliff, 28. An “antemortem” showed evidence a pregnancy had been aborted, but the physician who had been caring for Sutliff said it was a fall on the ice that caused the abortion.
In October 1907, Irene Blydenberg, died of septic peritonitis after “either a criminal or a natural abortion.” Her boyfriend was charged, but he swore their relationship was just “platonic.”
In July 1909, the state board of parole was considering a recommendation that J.W. Crofford be released from prison. Crofford was a wealthy man who owned a sanitarium in Lamoni. It was claimed the sanitarium “made a specialty of abortion cases.” Crofford was convicted in the death of Maude Stono, who died after a “criminal operation.”
So, that’s sample of our deep history. “The state’s interest in protecting the unborn can be traced to Iowa’s earliest days.” The majority wrote, pointing to an 1868 ruling.
But our history killed Clara Matthews, Rosa Severa, Belle Sutliff, Irene Blydenberg and Maude Stono. They were second-class citizens who had no right to safely terminate their pregnancies. They were at the mercy of butchers and quacks. Cowardly men dodged responsibility.
Sure, the new abortion law contains no criminal penalties. But make no mistake, Iowa women will die. Maybe it will be a botched procedure, or maybe a woman will have to wait for help until her physicians decide she’s on the brink of death and can receive legal abortion care.
This is a ruling searching for a rationale. Go back into history and you can find justification for just about anything. Naturally, the court majority picked a period before women, Black Iowans and others pushed for equality and won hard-fought victories.
Being students of history, I’m sure the court majority knows what happened. And yet, they’re still taking us back to it. We understand the history, and yet, we’re doomed to repeat it.
(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com
Opinion: Iowa’s deeply rooted history of harming women
Our history of banning abortion killed women
www.thegazette.com
