This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Anti-abortion activists emboldened by the Trump administration staged rallies around the country on Saturday, calling for the federal government to cut off payments to Planned Parenthood. In some cities, however, counter-protests dwarfed the demonstrations.

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Thousands of Planned Parenthood supporters, many wearing the pointy-eared pink “pussy” hats popularized by last month’s women’s marches, turned out for a rally in St Paul, Minnesota, separated by barricades from an anti-abortion crowd of a couple of hundred people.

In Detroit, about 300 people turned up outside a Planned Parenthood office, most of them supporting the organization. In St Louis, about 150 abortion opponents slightly outnumbered a group carrying pink signs that read: “I stand with Planned Parenthood.”

“They do a lot of work to help women with reproductive health – not just abortions, obviously – but they help with birth control and cancer screenings and counseling and a whole variety of services, and it seems they’re under attack right now, and that concerns me greatly,” said Kathy Brown, 58, a supporter of the organization who attended the St Paul rally.

Andy LaBine, 44, of Ramsey, Minnesota, rallied with abortion opponents in St Paul. LaBine, who was there with his family, said he believed Planned Parenthood was hiding “under a veil of healthcare”.

“I personally believe that abortion is a profound injustice to the human race,” LaBine said.

In one of his first acts as president, Trump last month banned US funding to international groups that perform abortions or even provide information about abortions. Vice-President Mike Pence strongly opposes abortion, citing his Catholic beliefs, and the newly confirmed health secretary, Tom Price, has supported cutting off taxpayer money to Planned Parenthood.

Last month, Pence addressed the annual March for Life in Washington, the first sitting vice-president to do so.

Federal dollars do not pay for abortions, but the organization is reimbursed by Medicaid for other services including birth control and cancer screening. Anti-abortion conservatives have long tried to cut Planned Parenthood funds, arguing that the reimbursements help subsidize abortions.

Planned Parenthood says it performed 324,000 abortions in 2014, the most recent year tallied, but the vast majority of women seek out contraception, testing and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, or other services including cancer screenings.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says defunding plans would cut roughly $400m in Medicaid money from the group in the year after enactment and would result in roughly 400,000 women losing access to care.

Republicans would redirect the funding to community health centers, but Planned Parenthood supporters say women denied Medicaid services from Planned Parenthood may not be able to find replacement care.

Outside a Planned Parenthood clinic in the Dallas suburb of Plano, about 20 anti-abortion protesters gathered – a few more than a typical Saturday, attendees said. They bore signs reading “Abortion Kills Children”, “Pray to End Abortion” and “Men Regret Lost Fatherhood”.

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Maria Nesbitt, 47, participated along with her husband and daughters, ages five and three, and said she was pleased about Trump’s election and the prospect of cutting Planned Parenthood funding. She and the girls held signs saying “Pray to End Abortion”, though Nesbitt said her daughters were too young to understand what the slogan meant.

Nearby, Anthony Hodgson, 57, held a sign with the same message. “I believe it’s not right. God told us, ‘Thou shalt not kill,’” he said.

In Detroit, Jill Byczek, 59, said she felt empowered after attending the recent women’s march in Washington. Wearing a pink shirt that said “My Body My Choice”, she said Planned Parenthood stood for “so much more” than abortion services.

“This is a way women get educated, get protected,” she said. “This shows people are upset about what’s happening … we are scared. We are worried. We have a person in power who’s against us.”