Sarah Skinner of Marquette leads a Women’s March on Saturday at Third and Washington streets in Marquette. The focus of the march was reproductive rights. (Journal photo by Christie Mastric)

MARQUETTE — Reproductive rights were the focus of a Saturday Women’s March at the corner of Washington and Third streets in Marquette.

Organizing the event was Sarah Skinner of Marquette.

“I’ve been watching the news a lot with the legal changes in Texas, the Supreme Court, basically violating Roe v. Wade,” Skinner said. “I have a little girl at home, and I worry about what the future’s going to be like for her.”

Women’s Marches were organized around the United States on Saturday, all with the purpose of rallying for abortion justice.

At womensmarch.com, it was explained that when the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an emergency request to block Texas’ abortion ban, it “effectively took the next step” toward overturning Roe v. Wade.

“Simply put: We are witnessing the most dire threat to abortion access in our lifetime,” the website reads.

Skinner said she participated in many protests in 2020, so she was familiar with putting on a march.

Skinner said, “It’s not that I want people to go out and get abortions. It’s just that women are going to do it either way, whether the law says they can or not. The difference is whether or not they’re going to have safe access to health care. That’s what abortion is: It’s health care, and women are going to die.”

She pointed out that the Planned Parenthood location in Marquette is the only abortion provider in the Upper Peninsula.

Planned Parenthood said medication abortions up to 11 weeks are provided in Marquette and in the northern Lower Peninsula in Petoskey and Traverse City.

“Safe access up here is hard to find,” Skinner said.

Skinner acknowledged she has a 5-year-old girl, which led to her being an advocate for reproductive rights at the march.

“The thought that when she grows up, if she needs an abortion, that she won’t have access to it?” Skinner said. “It’s scary, and this is the only thing I could think to do to try and make a change.”

Christie Mastric can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal.net.