People gather in Port Huron Saturday to show support for abortion rights

A crowd of people gathered in Port Huron Saturday to demonstrate their support for abortion rights after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe V. Wade made abortion access uncertain in Michigan. 

The crowd gathered at Pine Grove Park before filling the front lawn of the St. Clair County Courthouse to advocate for abortion rights. The demonstrators held signs and chanted sayings such as, "my body, my choice," and "(Expletive) the church, (expletive) the state, you can't make me procreate".

Some people ended the protest by holding signs at Pine Grove Park, vehicles honking as they passed. 

The Supreme Court's decision nullified the 1973 landmark case that protected abortion access in the U.S., sending the question of abortion rights to the states. 

Addysen Russel, a recent Port Huron High School graduate, organized Saturday's protest by posting the event on social media. She said about 300 people responded to the event. 

Russel said there are many factors that go into the decision to have an abortion, and it is important that people have the right to choose. 

"It's really important for people to have their own right to do what they want to do with their body," she said. 

A Michigan 1931 law bans all abortions unless performed to save the life of the pregnant person, and contains no exceptions for rape or incest. The law also criminalizes selling or advertising medications that could induce an abortion.

The law currently cannot be enforced, due to an injunction issued by Michigan Court of Claims Judge Elizabeth Gleicher in May. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has vowed not to appeal the injunction, and has said she will not enforce the law if it takes effect. 

There are several challenges to the 1931 law, including from the Republican-led Michigan legislature, prosecutors in Kent and Jackson counties and Right to Life of Michigan. 

Meredith Mills attended the protest in a red gown and white head covering to represent a handmaid, a fictional portrayal of women who were forced to give birth in the feminist book "The Handmaid's Tale."

Mills said she worries the Supreme Court decision could lead to further human rights attacks on gay rights, reproductive rights and privacy rights. 

"If we don't do something to change, we're heading down a very, very dark path," Mills said. 

Mills grew up in a time that abortion was legal, and worries about her daughter, who might not have the same choices she did. 

Bonnie Hartman attended the protest with her daughter, granddaughter, niece and friend. She also worried about the choice being taken away from her daughter and granddaughter. 

Hartman, her daughter, Marci Dambacher, her granddaughter, Alayna McDonald, and their friend, Michaele Suisse, expressed support for abortion rights, stating it's a medical and personal decision. They expressed anger that their right to choose was potentially being taken away by the decisions of a few Supreme Court justices. 

"It's not the land of the free, it's the land of the straight, white Christian male," McDonald said. 

Contact Laura Fitzgerald at (810) 941-7072 or lfitzgeral@gannett.com.