GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Organizers say the idea to protest against the controversial Proposal 3 started small.
“I feel like it’s a chain mail from Junior High that went right,” said Rochelle Visser, the woman behind the demonstration.
She says in just 7 days, the thought of a protest on the blue bridge in Grand Rapids became reality. Visser started texting friends on October 14 with the idea of some sort of public display.
“I said what’s more iconic than the blue bridge? Let’s tell Grand Rapids we do not stand for proposal 3,” Visser said. “Literally in 7 days it morphed from me and a couple friends, to over 100 people on the bridge.”
Visser and the others who joined her say Proposal 3 goes beyond the ruling in Roe v. Wade, removing any requirements for abortion providers to have medical licenses, and ending parental consent when an underage girl seeks an abortion.
“It’s okay to share your opinion. That we want to protect women teen and children,” said Visser. “We want people to know Grand Rapids does not stand for the killing of children.”
“We are smart enough to know that proposal 3 is bad.”
While abortion has been a dividing issue for decades, Visser says opposition to Proposal 3 includes people who are pro-choice.
“The cool thing is that we’re educating people. To look at the proposal. There’s pro choice and pro life people together on this.”
