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With several states recently passing legislation putting restrictions on abortions, a group of local community members are voicing their opposition to those laws.
About three dozen protesters marched across the Portage Lake Lift Bridge Tuesday, carrying signs and calling on legislators not to infringe on a woman’s right to choose.
Community Organizer Susan Burack of Hancock says these laws take us in the wrong direction. “We won’t go back,” she said. “We’ve been fighting this battle for 50 years and we’re not going back.”
Burack said the protesters are concerned that Roe v. Wade may be overturned, saying she believes that every child should be born a wanted child. “We know that 7 out of 10 Americans support a woman’s right to choose and, as Hillary Clinton said, we want abortion to be legal and rare,” Burack said.
Among the protesters were a few men as well. The protest was a march against abortion bans but L’Anse resident Craig Vickstom sees these bans as indicative of attitudes coming from the White House. “Misogyny is an integral part of fascism and Trump is a misogynist, as are all his supporters, so I see them as interlinked,” said Vickstrom.
Six states have already passed bans on abortions after six weeks, the point when a fetal heartbeat can be detected, with Alabama recently banning all abortions unless a mother’s health is at risk.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer has vowed to veto any bill coming out of the Michigan legislature which would restrict abortions.
