GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — On June 24, 2022, following the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the nationwide right to an abortion previously guaranteed under Roe v. Wade was no more.
The decision was met outside the court that day with celebration from some.
"This is a huge win for life a huge win for human rights and protecting the sanctity of human life," said Students for Life of America member Anna Lulis.
Others, however, confronted the decision with rage.
"They have worked to keep us down, they worked to keep us enslaved, they worked to keep us out of the polls, they worked to keep us out of political offices, they worked to keep us in the home," civil rights lawyer Elizabeth White said outside the Court that day. "But we know, as we fought for centuries, that this will not stand."
Since that day, the divide between restricting access to abortion and preserving protections has been no more visible than in Michigan, where legal and electoral battles have raged.
"While [Dobbs] was, it was the worst case imaginable and that gut punch, we at least knew that we had hope in Michigan, that there was something that people could do and take power into their own hands to fight back against the Supreme Court decision and ensure that our rights were not going to go away in Michigan," ACLU of Michigan Legislative Director Merissa Kovach said.
Now, one year later, following an addition to Michigan's constitution after the 2022 election that codified Roe-style abortion rights as well as a repeal of the state's nearly century old abortion ban earlier this year, Kovach said there is still more to be done.
"Having the right to abortion and reproductive health alone is not enough," Kovach said. "If you don't have access to it, that's just a right in name only."
"So, what we're hoping is that this legislature, this session, sees that call, takes action, this is now in their hands and addresses all of those medically unnecessary, unconstitutional restrictions that we have on the books to ensure that patients can actually access the care that they have a right to," Kovach said.
A fight unfinished is the view shared by those on the other side of the debate as well.
Members of Grand Rapids Right to Life have expressed the same outlook earlier this year.
"We're still going to keep doing what we do best, which is just fighting for the unborn and for every life that matters, which is everyone's life," Grand Rapids Right to Life member Tammy Erste said.
"A lot of people like to think that we hate people being able to make a choice and things like that, but really that's not it at all," fellow Right to Life member Kevin Rahe said. "They're all really in the same position and we can do a lot better than offer just to kill their child for them."
In a press release from Right to Life of Michigan just days ago, the organization saying it would "continue to support women and girls by standing up for parental consent protections, informed consent requirements and health and safety standards for abortion facilities."
Both sides have made clear that the fight goes on.
