Roe v. Wade 40th anniversary

Roe v. Wade’s 40th anniversary has touched off public demonstrations about abortion all over America.

Pro–life and pro–choice factions made themselves seen and heard in Huntsville, Alabama on Monday.

Events in the U.P. are more subdued.

The Care Clinic in Marquette hosted a prayer vigil Tuesday afternoon to mark the occasion, one that Marquette’s Catholic bishop does not feel like celebrating.

Bishop Alexander Sample of the Diocese of Marquette says he’d prefer to remember that more than 50 million babies have not been given the right to life since the Roe decision.

But Bishop Sample will be one of more than 150 U.P. residents heading to Washington, DC for the annual March for Life this Friday.

The bishop says many of the people making the trip with him are among the area’s youth.

Planned Parenthood of West and Northern Michigan says access to women’s health services is under attack.

In December, the state legislature banned the use of telemedicine technology for pregnancy and abortion services.

Telemedicine in those service areas would have given women in rural areas of Michigan better access to those services.

Julie McKeiver of Planned Parenthood says that the bill, recently signed into law by Governor Rick Snyder, directly affects U.P. women.

How many U.P. abortion providers are there, and how many abortions do they perform in a year?

The answer to both questions is apparently ‘none’.

McKeiver says women in the U.P. need to travel either downstate or out of state to end a pregnancy.

She says that’s why Planned Parenthood felt as strongly about telemedicine as it did, but she says the group will continue to work for improved access.

Although the Care Clinic and Planned Parenthood have different philosophies, their offices in Marquette are next door to one another.