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Rally to support Planned Parenthood held at the Rock

Brendan Baxter
February 11, 2017
<p>A girl listens as Ann Arbor resident Lauren Bacons speaks to the crowd during the rally to support Planned Parenthood on Feb. 10, 2017 at the Rock on Farm Lane. The rally was to support Planned Parenthood and women&#x27;s rights. Sen. Rebekah Warren and Harmeet Dhaliwal, who is a doctor at Sparrow Hospital and professor at MSU, spoke at the rally.</p>

A girl listens as Ann Arbor resident Lauren Bacons speaks to the crowd during the rally to support Planned Parenthood on Feb. 10, 2017 at the Rock on Farm Lane. The rally was to support Planned Parenthood and women's rights. Sen. Rebekah Warren and Harmeet Dhaliwal, who is a doctor at Sparrow Hospital and professor at MSU, spoke at the rally.

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Photo by Jon Famurewa | The State News

On Saturday afternoon, a large group of students and other Michiganians, both male and female, gathered at the Rock on Farm Lane to show their support for Planned Parenthood. 

With signs in hand, participants at the rally expressed why they view Planned Parenthood as something that is crucially important.

Civil engineering senior and rally participant Colleen Bianco explained that she attended the rally because, "I have very strong opinions towards rights and reproductive health, and I kind of feel like I can’t do a lot about it. I’m trying to do everything that I can to show support.” 

One rally participant, packaging freshman Mackenzie Black, said the rally was important to her because there's more to Planned Parenthood than abortions.

Black's sign referred to Planned Parenthood as a way for women to receive cancer screenings.

"There's so much more that Planned Parenthood does, like cervical cancer screenings, and that's a prominent issue right now especially for African-American women," Black said.

Similar to Black's point, Central Michigan University student Cassie Malhado said Planned Parenthood is about more than just abortions for women.

"Planned Parenthood isn’t just about abortions, I feel like a lot of people fail to understand that," Malhado said. "There’s a lot of health benefits that people can’t afford otherwise, and it’s very important we don’t defund Planned Parenthood for that reason.”

Malhado is part of a student group on CMU's campus. She and a few other members from the group came to MSU in order to show they don't agree with the pro-life idea. 

Malhado said she believes what women want to do with their bodies is their own choice, and that's why she comes to rallies like the one at the Rock. 

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“People think that Planned Parenthood is all just abortions," studio art junior Molly Eddington said. "I think we learn the best when we talk about stuff and get together and talk about both sides. I think people need better awareness about what Planned Parenthood does and all the other things it offers.”

Eddington also explained that she stands with Planned Parenthood and its supporters and said she came to the rally to raise awareness and show support for women's health and rights.

Karen Ullman, a participant in the rally, had a sign prompting people to ask her about her nine granddaughters. 

All of her granddaughters have had at least one experience with Planned Parenthood, and she wanted to show they are all successful now. 

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On the back side of her sign, she listed all of her granddaughters and their current professions. 

Once the organized part of the rally began, it opened with a speech from Lauren Bacans, a representative from Planned Parenthood.

Bacans talked about the work Planned Parenthood has done in the state of Michigan alone.

Following Bacans speech, Sen. Rebekah Warren (D-Ann Arbor) came up to the microphone and spoke to the crowd about her work as a senator supporting Planned Parenthood.

Next up to speak was Kortney Dennings, a student from the group MSU Students for Choice. She spoke to the crowd about the experiences she has had with Planned Parenthood.

She encouraged the participants of the rally to "keep on resisting and keep on persisting."

The penultimate speaker was visiting assistant professor Melissa Fore, who spoke about the experience a friend of hers had with Planned Parenthood.

The final speaker was Harmeet Dhaliwal, who is a doctor at Sparrow Hospital and clinical instructor in the Department of Family Medicine. He was the only male speaker and offered a male perspective as to why Planned Parenthood is important.

He also spoke about his experiences in the delivery room and how they relate to the importance of Planned Parenthood. 

At the end of the event, the students in charge of the event asked all of the participants to hold up their signs if they had them. 

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