Members of the local community will be protesting in downtown Muncie on Friday as part of a larger protest taking place in 155 cities and 49 states across the country against a new mandate issued by the government.
The mandate from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services requires all employers to provide free contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs through their health plans.
"It violates the first amendment of every citizen," Mark Sherfick, who is a captain for the Muncie rally, said. "We have never had a government force every business to purchase anything. It is forcing businesses to provide something free of charge which is what the mandate does to people in violation of their consciousness."
The Pro-Life Action League and Citizens for a Pro-Life Society organized the cross-country rallies.
Sherfick said the main reason for the rally is that the mandate violates the first amendment, the freedom of religion clause and that the major media outlets such as CNN and MSNBC are misinterpreting the purpose of the rally.
"A lot of the major networks in our opinion are turning this into something it really isn't, saying it's kind of a war on women or a women's health issue," he said. "Our opinion is that is not the case at all. It's a first amendment issue."
Ball State's Feminists for Action disagree and will be holding a protest against the rally.
"They're not standing up for religious freedom, they're standing up for more bureaucracy in women's lives," said Tiffany Cannon Cooper, a senior in counselling psychology and women and gender studies. "Certain things are going to have to be in health care plans and that's somehow infringing on their religious freedom."
The Feminists for Action hope to educate people, Cooper said.
"We want to make it clear that this is not to stand up for religious freedom," she said. "What they're doing is standing up against health care reform."
With the free contraception and other clauses of the mandate, Cooper pointed out how many participates in the rally possibly use this daily.
"I think a lot of them probably take birth control and contraception and would not be happy if it was taken away from them," Cooper said.
In addition to the two groups participating in the rally, local churches are also a part of the bigger picture. Although some churches are actively encouraging members to take part in the rally, not all are.
"We aren't specifically encouraging them to attend any specific rally as we can't control content," said Rev. Christopher Weldon of St. Francis of Assisi University Parish and Newman Center. "We are taking a cautious approach."
Instead of actively participating in the rally, the Catholic church is doing its own event for religious freedom later in the month.
"We are doing this to make sure we can have a clear voice on religious liberty but not allow that to become confused and not break boundaries of supporting any particular candidate or party," he said.
Sherfick said he expects the rally to have about 400-500 people present. He said he hopes people walk away more knowledgeable.
"I hope people just get a better understanding of what the ramifications are if this gets approved and hopefully a bigger understanding of the power of government to do things without our knowledge," he said. "U.S. citizens have a duty to carry out. We need to remind people that that's what makes America the way it is, it's by the people for the people."
Numbers are not always the important factor in a rally.
"They're more about quantity than quality," Cooper said. "They don't understand what they're there for."
Success is not measured in the number of people who protest but in changing people's ideas, Cooper said.
"We are hoping for a few people on the other side to come and talk and get them to maybe understand where we are coming from," she said. "If we change a couple of people's minds or educate them or enlighten them, then that's a great success."
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