(LifeSiteNews) — Amid rain and chilly temperatures, students, parents, priests, and even several Catholic bishops joyfully processed around the Capitol building in Lansing on Wednesday to protest the murder of innocent babies for the first Michigan March for Life.
“I was so gratified to see more than 5,000 pro-life Michiganders come to the Capitol and march in defense of unborn child and the sanctity of life,” GOP state Rep. Jim DeSana told LifeSite via text message.
“We prayed the Holy Rosary under the protection of Saint Michael the Archangel and the under the mantle of the Blessed Mother.”
Michigan, y’all *really showed up. pic.twitter.com/ljJUyy2Qqg
— March for Life (@March_for_Life) November 8, 2023
As previously reported by LifeSite, the Democrat-controlled Michigan House passed a bill earlier this month that effectively legalizes the killing of pre-born babies up until to the moment of birth. It is expected to pass the state Senate in the near future.
Pro-LGBT Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has made abortion a top priority during her tenure, ramming through many anti-life policies as Democrats have held a slim 56-54 majority in the House and a narrow 20-18 edge in the Senate.
At a Clinton Global Initiative event in September, she claimed that slaughtering unborn children is “important for our economy.”
Among those who addressed the enthusiastic crowd Wednesday was Jeannie Mancini, president of National March for Life, Bishop Earl Boyea of the Diocese of Lansing, and Barbara Listing, president of Michigan Right to Life. Boyea said Mass at nearby St. Mary’s Cathedral in the morning.
Bishop of Lansing begins with a powerful prayer, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance (“Under God” shouted against the Marxists!) and the crowd joyfully singing the National Anthem pic.twitter.com/WaOrC9avhK
— OnePeterFive (@OnePeterFive) November 8, 2023
While speaking on the steps of the Capitol, Listing informed marchers that 16 pro-life organizations and individuals in the state have filed a 36-page federal lawsuit to seek a permanent injunction to stop the enforcement of Proposal 3, a ballot measure passed by voters 57%-43% last year that enshrined abortion into the state constitution, overturning a 1931 ban.
The lawsuit, which can be read here, argues that Proposal 3 “causes great harm to women.” It also states that the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, especially the religious freedom and equal protection clauses, prevents a “super right” to “reproductive freedom” from being established.
Michigan Right to Life has also argued that Proposal 3 is illegal because it threatens “legal protections for pregnant women seeking healthcare, the rights of physicians to care for patients, and the rights of parents.”
LIVE: Michigan March for Life Outside State Capitol in Lansing https://t.co/stCc4Fd0E7
— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) November 8, 2023
Michigan Right to Life, Save the 1, the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, as well as several Michigan GOP lawmakers and pro-life activists like Rebecca Kiessling were listed as plaintiffs in the case.
Republican state Rep. Ryan Meerman of Coopersville added his name to the lawsuit. He told The Detroit News that while he believes “the voters spoke via the ballot amendment” they “weren’t told the complete truth of what the ballot initiative does, and it’s going farther than where Michigan is at.”
Students from @GRWestCatholic attended the Michigan March for Life in Lansing to bear witness to the sanctity of human life. pic.twitter.com/8GXSgGzBZv
— Patrick Nugent (@NugentGrcss) November 8, 2023
The left-wing ACLU of Michigan has accused the lawsuit’s backers of trying to “undermine the will of the voters.”
The American Freedom Law Center filed the case along with co-counsel Great Lakes Justice Center in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan.
