Iowa's first women's health clinic celebrates 50 years with documentary screening

A group of young Iowa City feminists responded to the 1973 Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision by founding Iowa's first women's health clinic, dedicated to abortion access and support.

Fifty years later, the mission at the Emma Goldman Clinic remains the same.

Several events are planned over the Labor Day weekend throughout Iowa City to commemorate the groundbreaking clinic's 50th anniversary, highlighted by a rescreening of the documentary "From One Place to Another: Emma Goldman Clinic Stories.

The showing will be held Sunday, Sept. 3 at FilmScene in the Chauncey building.

Documenting local history

LeAnn Erickson, an MFA student at the University of Iowa in the 1990s, didn't set out to make a documentary about Roe v Wade, instead aiming to highlight a group of women who formed a socialist collective. They strove to offer various women's healthcare services and empower those same women to take charge of their health.

Erickson and her creative partner, Camille Seaman, spent four years making the documentary and started working on the film just after the clinic's 20th anniversary in 1993.

The film, initially released in 1996, follows the founders and members of the collective who share the clinic's story, highlighting the struggles and triumphs at one of the first feminist reproductive healthcare clinics in the United States.

“We wanted to honor the politics of the collective in the beginning, the whole idea was every person had an equal voice. Every decision was made by complete consensus, which is very hard to do,” Erickson said. “We thought long and hard about the structure of this film, to somehow reflect the politics that the collective.”

The clinic has evolved in the five decades since its inception, though the 50th anniversary arrives with the country in transition and the right to abortion in question.

The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision in 2022, overturned Roe v. Wade. In July, Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, and the Emma Goldman Clinic filed a legal challenge to block the state of Iowa's six-week abortion ban, which ensures that abortion remains legal up to 20 weeks.

"A female body has always seemed to be up for political control. And this is not new," Erickson said. "And what's shocking to me is 50 years and 30 years after this film, that we're still talking and struggling over the same issues for women to have control of their own reproduction."

Though reproductive rights have been challenged across the nation, the Emma Goldman Clinic has promised to maintain its feminist approach to healthcare.

"We are committed to the safety of our staff and clients, and the Emma Goldman Clinic is taking measures to ensure both," the establishment said in a statement on its website. "We plan to continue to provide reproductive healthcare to those who are in need until it is recommended or required that we stop."

Erickson, originally from Waterloo, is a professor at Temple University. She considers herself a feminist and LGBTQ filmmaker and believes women's stories are and always will be important to share.

"This documentary proves these young people have something to learn from the kind of things that these women did 50 years ago, that they should be using now because the fight is still [ongoing]," Erickson said.

A story nearly lost

Sunday's screening almost didn't happen.

Erickson thought she had lost all her copies but found "From One Place to Another: Emma Goldman Clinic Stories" on a VHS tape while working on another project. She quickly digitized it to make sure the film was never lost for good.

“I'm really happy to have it available again,” Erickson said.

A Q&A session with Erickson will be held after Sunday's screening, featuring a few women in the film.

Jessica Rish is an entertainment, dining and business reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. She can be reached at JRish@presscitizen.com.

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Iowa's first women's health clinic celebrates 50 years