KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM) — Like two football teams on either side of the field prepared to defend the middle ground, or like two street gangs spoiling for a fight, two large crowds gathered in the 4200 block of West Michigan Avenue in Kalamazoo early Saturday to make their point as loudly as they could about federal funding going to Planned Parenthood.
There were plenty of public safety officers on hand to make sure that is remained non-violent. The word “peaceful,” however, would not apply, as the pro-choicers on the Planned Parenthood side of the street chanted loudly.
What the pro-life advocates lacked in numbers on the other side of west Michigan, they made up in wattage as they delivered their message through a portable public address system.
Except for a few lost demonstrators, the two opposing camps stayed mostly to their own side of the street.
Pastor Scott Price of Lifegate Community Church said Planned Parenthood’s main purpose for being there was to show support for legislation to transfer indigent care programs, funded by federal dollars and administered by Planned Parenthood to other healthcare providers. Their hopes have been buoyed by the election of Donald Trump who made defunding a campaign promise.
Price said Planned Parenthood uses these federally subsidized programs to “build a relationship with these women, and then ultimately if a woman has an unplanned pregnancy … they will council them more often than not to terminate a pregnancy.”
Michelle Richard, speaking for the pro-choice protestors, said the healthcare provider is offering cancer screening and birth control programs that other organizations won’t do. She said none of the federal funding pays for abortions at the clinics, “and they are willing to provide the services to everyone at an affordable price, that’s the beauty of Planned Parenthood.”
There were no official numbers, but Planned Parenthood supporters outnumbered the pro-lifers many times over at the simultaneous Kalamazoo rallies Saturday morning. While defunders formed a thin line on the curb lawn for most of a block, the larger crowd defending Planned Parenthood was packed three, four and five deep for a block and a half on the other side of the street.
However, pro-life groups may have the numbers nationally. They held 218 demonstrations across the U.S. on Saturday. It’s not known how many counter demonstrations were organized.
