Harris didn’t win Iowa. But we must not neglect the anger of our mothers and grandmothers, their rage at being once again forced into the role of second-class citizens by politicians who only see us as incubators of a future tax base. State grandmothers remember those who had to travel to Mexico for abortions, who contracted life-threatening infections and who found themselves stuck on a farm raising their children, unable to leave their husbands or even contract a line of credit. Women 65 and older, these radical grandmothers, are the second wave of feminists who fought for reproductive rights, and now they have to start all over again.

On June 28, The Iowa State Supreme Court upheld a near-total ban on abortion. Although there are exceptions for rape, incest and maternal life, experts and doctors have emphasized that these exceptions exist in name only. Iowa is also a state that ranks 50th in the nation for OB-GYN access (meaning we have the fewest such doctors per capita) and we have a rising maternal mortality rate even before the 2022 Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. What is happening in Iowa is not a new reality, but an old reality. And Iowans, the majority of whom support access to abortion in all or most circumstances, remember what it was like before we had this right.

Greta Mullberg, a Marion resident, told me via email, “I’m 75 and I remember this. more than one friend had an abortion. For this they had to go to Puerto Rico. you had to have money and, even then, the conditions were not good. A friend contracted a serious infection and was never able to have children. we will not go back!!!”

In 2020, Beverly Young, then 82, told me about the humiliation of trying to get a prescription for birth control in 1963 and being asked if she had her husband’s permission. She remembers friends having abortions before it was legal and enduring the pain and fear.

Speaking about women 65 or older voting for Harris, Liz Flemming, an Iowa activist, wrote on Threads on Sunday: “My mother is one of those women. Many of our mothers are these women. They saw Roe v. Wade adopt in 1973, then watched their daughters and granddaughters lose that right in 2022. Then they watched our state and legislature ignore our health and freedom to pass a 6-week abortion ban that leaves us already struggling.

Whatever platitudes and reassurances Republicans try to use to appease women ring hollow as Iowans remember the realities of the past, now confirmed by securities about women dying because they I couldn’t access necessary health care.

Kira Barker, executive director of the Polk County Democrats, who went door-to-door and organized for Democratic candidates, told me another motivating factor was that Iowans had become ground zero for Democratic candidates. the Project 2025 agenda. In addition to passing an abortion ban, Republicans have pushed through a school voucher program And reduced SNAP benefitsall parts of the Conservative plan, and people just don’t like it.

Democratic Senator Megan Srinivasa doctor, also points out that Iowa has in the past been a swing state. She noted that elected officials and party organizers have opted for a “bottom-up” messaging approach, which emphasizes issues that voters care about rather than the party’s “top-down” message. “Iowans are truly purple and are striving to do what is best for their families and communities rather than being tied to a partisan identity.”

And yet, NBC News exit polls found that first-time male voters went for Trump over Harris between 62% and 36% — a striking difference.

People who remember what the past was really like will do their best in Iowa to try to make sure we don’t go back there again. But if these elections are to be believed, the fight is far from over.