Students, community members,
politicians and activists gathered at
the University of Michigan Diag for
the “Bans Off Our Bodies” rally Sat-
urday afternoon to speak out against
the potential overturning of Roe v.
Wade. One of around 50 “Bans Off
Our Bodies” rallies held Saturday,
the protest was held in response
to the leaked Supreme Court draft
opinion on the pending Dobbs v.
Jackson Women’s Health Organiza-
tion case. The decision, if finalized,
would reverse 50 years of national
legal precedent protecting the right
to abortion with minimal govern-
ment interference and return the
issue to individual states.
In the state of Michigan, the over-
ruling of Roe v. Wade could mean the
return to a 1931 law that banned all
abortions unless to save the pregnant
person’s life and made it a felony to
perform one in other circumstances.
Last month, Gov. Gretchen Whit-
mer filed a lawsuit asking the state
Supreme Court to strike down this
law under the Michigan Constitu-
tion’s Due Process and Equal Protec-
tion clauses.
With signs reading “Protect safe,
legal abortion,” “No forced birth”
and “My uterus, my choice” in hand,
attendees heard from various speak-
ers on the importance of protecting
abortion access in Michigan and
nationwide. The chants “Bans off
our bodies” and “We support Roe”
echoed around the Diag throughout
the afternoon.
Katie O’Connor, president of the
Albion College chapter of Planned
Parenthood
Generation
Action,
expressed
her
disappointment
regarding the potential overruling
of Roe v. Wade, but told attendees
she remains determined to fight to
protect legal abortion. O’Connor
emphasized that abortion remains
legal in the state of Michigan since
Roe v. Wade has not been officially
overturned, and encouraged attend-
ees to continue advocating for abor-
tion access.
“I don’t have the words to
describe the anger and hurt that I
feel,” O’Connor said. “Abortion is
still legal in Michigan, and it will not
be attacked on our watch without a
fight … This week confirms we’re fac-
ing the worst-case scenario, which
would be disastrous for every person
in our country. And that is why we
are here today … people in every state
across the country in their home-
towns, right this minute, (are) rising
up to say ‘Bans off our bodies.’”
Nicole Wells Stallworth, execu-
tive director for Planned Parenthood
Advocates of Michigan, pointed out
in her speech that a ban on legal abor-
tion will disproportionately affect
low-income and minority groups.
“The impact of overturning Roe
would be largely felt by Black, Lati-
no, indigenous people, immigrants,
people living with low incomes and
in rural communities,” Stallworth
said. “(These groups) have already
long felt the impact of lack of access
to abortion due to the social determi-
nants of health and discrimination
that already exists in our healthcare
and criminal justice systems.”
Grey Stone, a board member of
Planned Parenthood Generation
Action at Eastern Michigan Uni-
versity, spoke to attendees on the
importance of including transgender
individuals in the conversation and
using gender-inclusive language.
“Using gender-inclusive language
makes a great difference,” Stone said.
“It opens up discussions in safe spac-
es to more people who are in bodily
autonomy jeopardy.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wednesday, August 31, 2022 — 3A
TINA YU
Daily Staff Reporter
News
Students, community members, politicians and activists gather in
support of abortion access
‘Bans off our bodies’: Activists rally
at the Diag in support of Roe v. Wade
CAMPUS LIFE
The University of Michigan
announced in an April 27 Universi-
ty-wide email that starting May 2,
masks would no longer be required
in indoor spaces, including class-
rooms and campus transportation.
This updated policy is applicable
to all three U-M campuses and
includes campus visitors, regardless
of vaccination status.
The Michigan Daily spoke to
U-M students about their reac-
tions and opinions regarding this
change. Some students said the
spring semester seemed like the
appropriate time to lift classroom
mask requirements, given declining
cases for the majority of April and
decreased student presence on cam-
pus, but said they would personally
remain masked while in class.
Rising LSA sophomore Jenny
Zhao said although she believes the
updated mandate is reasonable, she
will continue to wear a mask in the
classroom out of health and safety
concerns.
“When I first heard about it, it
did make sense because there (are)
less students on campus, and classes
will be smaller,” Zhao said. “I’m
probably going to (keep) wearing
my mask in classrooms just for safe-
ty concerns because I don’t want to
get sick during the spring semester.”
Rising LSA junior Aricka Crox-
ton said that while the timing of the
new policy made sense, she believes
a gradual change would have been a
better approach.
“I think it’s around the time it
should happen, but I didn’t expect
it to be so abrupt,” Croxton said. “I
think the school should have just
leaned into it more slowly.”
Croxton said the changes in the
mask mandate did not affect her
experiences while communicating
with instructors and classmates in
the classroom.
“It’s kind of still the same,” Crox-
ton said. “I still interact with people
the way I did before, and I don’t
think the masks changed anything.”
Rackham
student
Xiaosheng
Guo is a Graduate Student Instruc-
tor for the spring semester. Guo said
she believes the new mask mandate
will not impact safety in lecture
halls because the bigger classroom
size allows students to maintain
social distancing.
“I have taught for two semesters
that students have masks for the
whole class,” said Guo. “I think for
rooms that (are) large enough, and
the students can sit separately…
then it is okay that students don’t
wear masks because in this way, you
can still keep your social distance,
and you don’t need to be that careful
about getting (COVID-19) or other
diseases.”
However, Guo said she felt the
University should adjust its policy
for classes where students have to
sit in closer proximity to each other.
“In discussions, we prefer stu-
dents to work in groups and discuss
with each other,” Guo said. “In that
case, it’s hard to keep the social dis-
tance in the classroom. The Univer-
sity should think about more ways
to actually prevent (COVID-19)
from spreading.”
Rising LSA sophomore Abhi
Shuko said while he does not per-
sonally have an issue with the new
mask policy, he believes it is impor-
tant to maintain mask requirements
in spaces students cannot avoid,
such as classrooms and transporta-
tion.
“Maybe I’d prefer to keep them
in the classroom or areas where
students have to be,” Shuko said.
“In areas where you’re supposed to
be for classes, you would want stu-
dents to always have masks because
if someone doesn’t feel safe without
masks, it’d be kind of an issue.”
Wearing a mask remains a
requirement in patient care areas
such as Michigan Medicine, Uni-
versity Health Service and the Den-
tal School clinical area. Those who
have tested positive for COVID-19
or have been exposed to the virus
are also required to wear a mask
while around other individuals dur-
ing the first 10 days of their isolation
or self-monitoring period.
According to the University, the
new mask policy aligns with the
COVID-19 community level guid-
ance from the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC).
During the two weeks prior to the
announcement of the updated mask
mandate, COVID-19 cases on cam-
pus were declining, but they appear
to be rising again in recent weeks.
The University’s May 13 update to
the Campus Blueprint COVID-19
dashboard said the COVID-19 com-
munity level for Washtenaw Coun-
ty is now “high,” according to the
CDC. While the University’s policy
regarding mask requirements in
indoor spaces remains unchanged,
the University encourages commu-
nity members to take preventative
measures such as getting vaccinat-
ed, receiving boosters if eligible and
staying home if sick.
Students also expressed con-
cerns regarding how the updated
mask mandate will affect the cam-
pus community in August when
students return to campus for the
fall semester. Croxton said she
believes it would be beneficial for
the safety of community members
if masks become required again
in classrooms during the first few
weeks of the fall semester.
“I think (mask requirements in
classrooms) would be the smart
thing to do, at least for the first
month or so, just in case somebody
does come back with (COVID-19),”
Croxton said.
The University has not yet
announced its intended mask policy
for the fall semester.
Daily Staff Reporter Tina Yu can
be reached at tinapyyu@umich.edu.
TINA YU
Daily Staff Reporter
Students discuss mask no longer being required in
indoor spaces
UMich community reacts to
updated COVID-19 mask policy
CAMPUS LIFE
Read more at michigandaily.com
CHRISTINA MERRILL/Daily
Show off your Maize and Blue
pride with an exclusive Block M
sweatshirt* and debit card** when
you open an account with UMCU.
STUDENTS!
‘S STUDENT PACKAGE IS
‘S STUDENT PACKAGE IS
Insured by the NCUA.
*Must be an UM student to be eligible to receive a free sweatshirt. Offer valid while supplies last. Checking account must be open
and in good standing at the time sweatshirt is mailed out. Sweatshirt will be mailed out within 4-6 weeks of account opening.
**A savings account is required to open a debit/checking account. The minimum balance required to open a savings account is
$5.00. The current savings account Annual Percentage Yield of 0.05% is a variable rate and may change at any time.