By Lindsay Steele
The Catholic Messenger
IOWA CITY —The 40 Days for Life campaign is an opportunity for Christians worldwide to come together and pray outside abortion clinics.
Iowa City-area participants try to maintain a constant presence outside the Emma Goldman Clinic from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. during the campaign, which begins Sept. 23 and concludes Nov. 1. Participants take shifts to pray, hand out brochures and/or hold signs. Pro-life advocates who cannot stand outside the clinic are encouraged to participate from home through prayer and fasting, especially on Monday afternoons and Thursday mornings when Emma Goldman offers abortion appointments, said local 40 Days coordinator Paul Breitbach.
There are fewer abortion clinics to pray outside of since the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022, according to 40 Days for Life’s website. About half of all states — including Iowa — have enacted laws that reduce access to abortion.
Iowa’s fetal heartbeat law, which took effect in 2024, prohibits most abortions once cardiac activity is detected, typically around six weeks of pregnancy. Previously, abortion was legal up to 20 weeks of pregnancy. Earlier this year, a new law took effect in the state which requires medications used in chemical abortions to only be dispensed at a medical center after an in-person exam.
Emma Goldman Clinic is one of two in-person options for Iowans seeking an abortion, including the Planned Parenthood clinic in Des Moines. A Planned Parenthood location in Iowa City closed in July.
The number of Iowans seeking abortions dropped 22% from 2024 to 2025, according to the Guttmacher Institute, an organization that supports legal access to abortion. The data include numbers from Iowans who got abortions at one of the state’s brick-and-mortar clinics and through telehealth appointments, including those who received abortion pills from out-of-state medical providers in states with shield laws.
The work to save lives and give hope and healing to abortion-minded mothers and fathers continues, local 40 Days for Life organizers said. A kick-off will take place Sept. 23 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. at Pizza Ranch in Iowa City. RSVP at JCRTL.org by Sept. 21.
Participants can sign up for one-hour time slots at https://www.40daysforlife.com/en/iowa-city.
