Memos & Media Guidance National
Press Release
Reproductive Freedom for All Michigan Responds to Anti-Abortion “Rally” in Lansing
Detroit, MI – Yesterday, anti-abortion extremists hosted a sham event to try and garner support for their efforts to further restrict access to abortion in Michigan and overturn Prop 3—the ballot initiative that enshrined the right to reproductive freedom into Michigan’s state constitution. The event was hosted on the anniversary of the passage of Prop 3.
Reproductive Freedom for All Director of Michigan Campaigns Shanay Watson-Whittaker issued the following statement in response:
“In 2022, Michiganders made it clear that we do not want the government making decisions about our health care when we overwhelmingly passed Prop 3. Anti-abortion extremists are grasping at straws to try to spin their deeply unpopular agenda. Reproductive Freedom for All Michigan is fighting back against harmful disinformation, and we will continue our work to unite Michiganders amid attacks on reproductive care from Tom Barrett, John James, and the Trump administration.”
During the “rally,” multiple speakers advocated for stronger efforts to undermine Prop 3, including the recently dismissed lawsuit that Right to Life of Michigan filed to overturn Prop 3. Sen. John Damoose even claimed that the situation in Michigan was “grim” for anti-abortion activism. Speakers also advocated for more so-called “crisis pregnancy centers,” also known as anti-abortion centers. These centers are run by anti-abortion organizations that intentionally lie to, shame, and deceive pregnant people seeking abortion care.
Representative Tom Barrett, who has avoided facing his constituents since casting a vote that will force hundreds of thousands of Michiganders off of Medicaid and gut funding for Planned Parenthood, spoke at the anti-abortion event. Earlier this year, Reproductive Freedom for All Michigan unveiled billboards in Barrett’s district, calling him and other anti-abortion Republican lawmakers out for avoiding town halls since voting for this devastating bill and refusing to answer to the thousands of Michiganders and families that will be harmed as a result.
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For over 55 years, Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America) has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for everybody. Reproductive Freedom for All is powered by its more than 4 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.