Michigan state Rep. Laurie Pohutsky sterilized herself, and she’s blaming her decision on President Donald Trump.
The 36-year-old Livonia Democrat told the throng of several hundred Trump haters that descended on the Michigan Capitol Wednesday that she voluntarily and permanently relinquished her fertility to make a statement about the 47th POTUS.
“Just under two weeks ago, I underwent surgery to ensure that I would never have to navigate a pregnancy in Donald Trump’s America,” Pohutsky said. “I refuse to let my body be treated as currency by an administration that only sees value in my ability to procreate.
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“If you know people who are questioning how serious this is, I’m going to repeat myself: A sitting government official opted for voluntary sterilization because she was uncertain she would be able to access contraception in the future,” she said, according to Michigan Advance.
The bisexual former House speaker pro tem insisted lawmakers must do more to counter Trump, urging followers to compel their elected representatives to go on the offensive.
“We need to demand that our elected officials at all levels stop pretending that this is politics as usual,” she said. “It is beyond time that all elected officials force the issue instead of preemptively capitulating.”
Pohutsky’s proactive approach to thwarting the president was echoed by Abdul El-Sayed, a Wayne County health official who was defeated by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in his 2018 campaign for governor.
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El-Sayed, who is now reportedly eyeing the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, bemoaned the federal funding freeze, pointing to the impact on benefits for Michiganders that are exempted.
“It’s about damn time that we showed up, stood up and took our government back,” he said.
A White House statement on the funding freeze explicitly states payments required by law are not included in the temporary pause, such as student loans, SNAP benefits, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
The pause “is expressly limited to programs, projects, and activities implicated by the President’s Executive Orders, such as ending DEI, the green new deal, and funding nongovernmental organizations that undermine the national interest,” the statement read. “Funds for small businesses, farmers, Pell grants, Head Start, rental assistance, and other similar programs will not be paused.”
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The Wednesday protest was part of a broader 50501 movement that aimed to hold 50 protests in 50 states on one day, which produced similar demonstrations in other states.
In Lansing, many waived LGBTQ+ flags, and toted signs that read “Tax the Rich,” “Reject Project 2025,” “Fight the Fascists, Stop the Coup,” “President Elon Sucks,” “Resistance Becomes Duty,” and “We have violent offenders in office.”
“If we don’t stop it and get Congress to do something, it’s an attack on democracy,” Ann Arbor resident Catie Miglietti told WOOD as she toted a sign depicting Elon Musk puppeteering Trump.
The event, billed on social media as an effort to “fight fascism,” followed a similar protest in Lansing during Trump’s inauguration that drew far fewer attendees, and no lawmakers.
“A lot of us are here because we understand the danger we are facing, and we know that today is the time to act,” one speaker said Thursday as she urged the crowd to “flood the phone lines” of elected officials, according to the Lansing State Journal. “We will not sit on the sidelines and watch as our rights are ripped away and the billionaires dismantle our democracy, stripping it for parts.”
Like Pohutsky, fellow state Rep. Emily Dievendorf, D-Lansing, leveraged the protest to encourage followers to “go further,” suggesting it’s the duty of the “guardians of humanity” who attended, The State News reports.
“We’ve gone from inauguration to fascism in 60 seconds,” said Dievendorf, “Michigan’s first openly nonbinary representative.” “Today, we are guardians of humanity, guardians of our neighbors’ safety and protectors of a young democracy that is worth fighting for.”
While some called on protestors to “show kindness in every way you can,” and insisted there’s “no room for hate in the USA,” things turned ugly when state Rep. Matt Maddock, R-Milford, made his way through the crowd.
“Do not engage!” one protestor shouted over the microphone when Maddock appeared near the Capitol. “Security! Security!”
Maddock told The Detroit News he opted to attend Thursday “just to have some fun.”
“We’re going to make this nation great again,” he said. “We’re going to make our state great again. We’re all going to have fun.”