(Radio Iowa)  – The Iowa Right to Life rally and march is this Saturday at the State Capitol. Pulse Life Advocates executive director Maggie DeWitte says they started the event three years ago when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

“We felt it was very important that we commemorate and celebrate the fact that federal abortion law. Is no longer in our country and what that did was bring abortion law back to individual states,” she says. DeWitte says many people thought that ruling ended abortion in every state, but she says it only ended abortion in a few states with bills triggered by the ruling.

“Iowa was not one of those states that had a trigger bill,” she says. “And although we do have one of the strictest regulations on abortion with our heartbeat law, we still do have abortion in our state. According to the. vital statistics in Iowa in 2023, we have about 2,771 abortions in our state.” DeWitte says about 70% of the Iowa abortions are drug induced. “That’s really our big threat right now here in Iowa and across the country, is the chemical abortions,” DeWitte says, “and of course, also combating the issue of those drugs coming through the U.S. postal system and being nailed to women. And so it’s a real problem that we also want to highlight at our event as well.”

A photo from a past March for Life rally. (photo from Pulse Life Advocates)

DeWitte says they will have displays and educational information in the rotunda of the Capitol starting at noon, and then there’s a rally at 1 p.m.. One of the featured speakers is the new leader of the National Right to Life organization. “We also have Doctor Pat Castle, who is the founder and President of Life Runners, and he will also be speaking as well as a local individual. Who has a very compelling story about taking the abortion pill reversal after taking the first dosage of the chemical abortion and being able to reverse that and save the life of her child,” she says.

DeWitte says they will march from the capitol and over the Iowa Judicial building and back after the rally. DeWitte says they are hoping to get around 1,000 people to the event.