Update: The initial version of this story erroneously stated the Feminists for Action's position. The group opposes Rep. Mike Pence's Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act, which would take away federal funding for clinics that offer abortions. The Daily News regrets the error.
Drivers going over the bridge on North Wheeling Avenue were greeted by signs in support of federal funding for family planning clinics such as Planned Parenthood.
Feminists for Action rallied across downtown Muncie on Saturday afternoon to oppose Rep. Mike Pence and the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act, a bill he's sponsoring that would bar federal funding for family planning clinics that offer abortions.
Senior women and gender studies major Allison Dreshfield said the bill would be a disservice to women who couldn't afford proper health care.
"It's just irritating to me because they're taking money away from people who can't afford things like cancer screenings," she said. "My great-aunt died of ovarian cancer, and it's like, is someone else going to develop cancer because they can't afford to pay?"
Briana Brown, president of Feminists for Action, said they protested outside Pence's office downtown but decided to march after they realized there weren't very many people there.
"We went down around City Hall and the county building," she said. "We went to Republican headquarters, but there was no one there."
The group eventually settled on the bridge where they received countless honks in support of the federal funding.
Signs such as "Support Planned Parenthood," "Honk for (healthy) vaginas," "My vagina, my choice" and "Don't tread on me" with a drawing of a uterus, a parody of the Gadsden flag, flooded both sides of the bridge.
Dreshfield said the proposal is ridiculous because none of the money from federal funding is used for abortions.
"The money is going toward things like birth control, which will prevent people from getting pregnant in the first place. I think that's more important," she said.
Brown said even though the bill passed in the House, she doesn't think it will pass the Senate. She wants to do everything she can to fight the bill, though.
"So many people need Planned Parenthood, especially in Muncie, with [it] having so many low-income people, it's a little ridiculous. I mean, I need Planned Parenthood, and I have a job," she said.
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