GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Emotions ran high Saturday morning in front of the Planned Parenthood on Cherry Street, as both pro-life and pro-choice activists exchanged chants and support for their respective causes.
Mark Gurley, a pro-life supporter, was involved with a protest held back in Augustand decided to take to the street again.
"Congress, with a lack of back-bone, did not defund Planned Parenthood despite all the evidence that they were cutting up babies and selling them, which is illegal," Gurley said, referencing the undercover videos released by the Center for Medical Progress alleging Planned Parenthood dissects and sells baby parts for profit.
On the other side of the debate, Briana Urena-Ravelo stood with the pro-choice crowd. She claiming they were defending Planned Parenthood because the organization is a lifeline to women who need access to reproductive health.
"A lot of it is unfounded," she said. "There has been some videos circulating around that people made that were saying that baby parts were being sold and whatnot. It was actually recently found that Planned Parenthood is completely following the law. They're not doing anything illegal."
The investigations into Planned Parenthood over the allegations of baby-profiteering have come to a close, with Congress concluding that no wrongdoing could be found.
Despite this, pro-life activists still call for Planned Parenthood's defunding.
"For every one person you see who comes out to support something, you know there's a thousand more that are agreeing with him," Gurley said.
"I care about all the things that affect my community. and when we have a bunch of people that have no connections to my community try to block access [to reproductive health], it becomes a problem for me," Urena-Ravelo said.
