Protestors gathered at the International Women’s Day rally in front of the Michigan Capitol. March 8, 2025. Photo by Jon King.
Several hundred people gathered Saturday outside the Michigan Capitol in Lansing as they protested a myriad of actions and policies by the Trump administration, most especially the assault on reproductive rights.
Held on International Women’s Day, the protest was one of at least five taking place in Michigan, including in Detroit, Grand Rapids and Flint, as well as in cities around the world.
“We are watching as our reproductive rights continue to be stripped away, forcing countless people into impossible and dangerous choices,” state Rep. Emily Dievendorf (D-Lansing) told the crowd. “We see abortion bans spread like wildfire, while maternal health care is gutted, putting lives on the line.”
That sentiment was evident in many of the signs carried by those gathered Saturday, including “Feminists Against Fascism,” and “A Woman’s Place is in the Revolution.”
“We see attacks on LGBTQ+ rights, especially against trans women and girls. who deserve to live with dignity and with safety,” continued Dievendorf, Michigan’s first openly nonbinary legislator.
Further emphasizing the frustration at the administration’s attack on LGBTQ+ rights was Emme Zanotti, senior director of movement building and political affairs at Equality Michigan.
“I’m a transgender woman,” said Zanotti to a huge roar of approval from the crowd. “I know we’re not popular with this administration, are we? And I’m hardly bothered by that. I’m hardly bothered by a bunch of extremist, billionaire bullies’ fascination with trying to define away my womanhood.”
Zanotti then targeted efforts by Republican lawmakers in Michigan to try and ban trans girls from participating in high school sports, saying it is an attempt to generate fear and hatred toward the most vulnerable of kids.
“These assholes want you to believe that your safety, your security, relies on telling a 13-year-old transgender girl – who has teenage angst, wears face glitter and has posters of Chappell Roan on her wall – that she doesn’t get to play soccer with her friends three nights a week,” said Zanotti. “I think the definition of gaslighting in the goddamn dictionary should have a picture next to it and of every last one of these clowns who made banning trans kids from sports their legislative priority.”
Also speaking was Kaylee Singer, the Mid-Michigan community organizer for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan. Singer said the fight for reproductive rights was in a critical moment, requiring a united front to maintain the right to control their own bodies.
“I won’t sugarcoat it. The fights ahead are hard. The Trump administration is already working to dismantle public health systems, gut federal funding, tear families apart and attack gender affirming care. And we know it won’t stop there. We’ve read Project 2025. We know their playbook. In the coming weeks and months, we expect an all out assault on sexual reproductive healthcare access,” she said.
Singer told the crowd they can expect that assault will come on multiple fronts, starting with a defunding effort by pushing abortion providers like Planned Parenthood out of Title X, the nation’s largest family planning program, similar to actions he took in his first term.
“When that happened, the number of Michiganders accessing affordable care dropped by 73%,” said Singer. “That means tens of thousands of people lost access to birth control, STI testing, cancer screenings, and other basic health services. We anticipate Trump will reinstate that order, stripping away affordable care once again.”
Singer said they expect that will just be the beginning move, with Trump’s allies signaling their intent to resurrect the 1873 Comstock Act to ban the mailing of abortion medication like Mifepristone, one of two pharmaceuticals used in medication abortions, which are currently FDA-approved for use up to 10 weeks gestation.
The two-drug regimen accounts for nearly two-thirds of all abortions nationwide, according to a report from the Guttmacher Institute.
“The reality is harsh, but let’s be clear. These attacks are legally shaky and wildly unpopular with American people, and when they come we’ll be ready, we’ll be in the streets, in the courts, and at every door, fighting like hell to mitigate harm and make them pay a political price,” said Singer. “But we can’t do this alone. We need you, every single person in this facility and everyone you know to stay in this fight, because what they want most is for us to lose hope, to give up and to accept injustice as a new normal.”
One chant that continually made the rounds during the event was “We won’t go back,” a theme Dievendorf expanded on in trying to characterize the point of the gathering.
“We are here today because we refuse to go backwards. We will not go back. So today as we gather, this is not a symbol. This is not a motion to make us feel better. This is not solidarity for a photo op. This is a moment in a movement. This is an opportunity for us to build and to grow. This is a part of a bigger, more important fight. This is us protecting our democracy today,” they said as the crowd cheered in approval.
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