Biography

The National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws was founded in 1969. NARAL of Iowa was a branch of this national organization that supported Tom Harkin in his 1990 campaign for U.S. senator and started the annual fundraiser Chocolate for Choice. In 1991 the Iowa legislature considered a bill requiring parental notification for teenagers seeking abortions, which NARAL of Iowa helped defeat in 1993. In April of 1992, NARAL of Iowa members participated in the March for Women's Lives rally in Washington, D.C. That year NARAL of Iowa also held a rally at the state capitol in Des Moines protesting the Supreme Court's decision in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey. Later activities of NARAL of Iowa included the "Let's Put Women Back into the Picture" campaign, a 21st anniversary celebration of Roe v. Wade, and campaigns against abortion clinic violence. NARAL of Iowa worked closely with local chapters of the National Organization for Women and Planned Parenthood.

NARAL changed its name twice after its founding, but kept the same acronym. After the Supreme Court's 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, the group became the National Abortion Rights Action League, and in 1993, the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League.

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