Biography

The Emma Goldman Clinic for Women opened on September 1, 1973, at 715 N. Dodge Street in Iowa City, nine months after the passage of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion in the United States. The Emma Goldman Clinic was the first outpatient abortion clinic in Iowa and the first feminist health clinic in the Midwest.

The idea for a feminist clinic began with a group of approximately twelve young women in Iowa City who were active in the Women's Center and had been providing abortion referral information to area women since the early 1970s. At the early meetings, members discussed their plans to open a clinic based on feminist ethics and funding for the project.

The Emma Goldman Clinic was organized as a non-profit feminist health collective. Its original structure reflected the feminist movement of the 1970s, and emphasized collective action and group effort. Conceptually, the clinic was grounded in a body positive, self-help model intended to empower women to be active participants in their own health care. The clinic provided abortions, birth control information, gynecology services, and counseling. It was staffed by physicians, laywomen trained as para-medicals, and counselors.

The clinic has been restructured several times and has adapted to social and political changes. Initially, the collective consisted of twelve women who made all decisions. The original organizational structure remained in place until 1977, when it was replaced with a modified collective structure. The modified collective structure consisted of committees led by co-directors, who took committee recommendations to a central committee that made decisions and set policy. This modified organizational structure maintained the spirit of the collective but in a more manageable fashion. It defined the clinic until 1995, at which time an external board of directors and executive director replaced the modified collective.

In 1991, the central committee enlisted an outside consultant to evaluate the clinic operation. Per the recommendation of the evaluator, the central committee recognized that another organizational change was necessary in order for the clinic to continue and thrive. Seeking voices outside the collective, the central committee established an advisory board comprised of Iowa City community members and Emma Goldman Clinic co-directors. The long-range goals, organizational planning, and policy making were determined by the board of directors and implemented by the executive director.

The Emma Goldman Clinic moved to its current location on Dubuque Street, Iowa City in 1985. Since its founding, the clinic has provided abortions, gynecological care, and testing for sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy. The clinic has offered healthcare to women of all ages; these services include artificial insemination, a trial of the cervical cap birth control method, and treatments for the symptoms brought on by menopause. During the 1980s, the clinic added outreach services to teenagers and began to offer HIV services. While most of the feminist health clinics that formed in the 1970s have closed, the Emma Goldman Clinic continues to empower women and their families by providing educational services and healthcare.

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