When “The Daily Show’s” Lizz Winstead brought her Planned Parenthood comedy to Pontiac earlier this month, not everyone thought it was funny.

Protestors from both sides of the abortion debate came to be seen and heard. Yellow balloons with the word “LIFE” lined one side of the street, along with myriad pro-life supporters of all ages, including a sign held up by a toddler.

On the other side of the road, pink balloons helped pro-choice advocates get their message out.

Oakland University students, along with many other Planned Parenthood workers sang songs, chanted and rallied against their opponents.

Planned Parenthood, a family health care provider, has received a lot of local attention lately because of the new facility scheduled to open soon in Auburn Hills.  Its proximity to OU has prompted heated discussions between those who want it and those who want it gone. The fact the organization provides abortion services, even though that is a very small percentage of their practice, is typically the hot-button issue.

A contingent of OU students were among the crowd in front of the theater, including Elisa Mailile, OU Student Body Vice President, who has been a supporter of Planned Parenthood for five years.

A pro-choice advocate, she believes every woman deserves a fair choice in the important decisions that affect their lives.

“I believe that Planned Parenthood is important for women’s health,” she said. “It’s very crucial to have one near campus. When I heard students telling me that they don’t have health care and have to drive all the way to Livonia or Ann Arbor to get an annual exam or birth control, it’s devastating.”

With a number of OU students, including Gay Straight Alliance President Alexa Van Vilet, Malile rallied against pro-life, supporting the organization and all it stands for.

While doing so, pro-life supporters, including a priest, ran up and down the streets carrying balloons while a conga line of youth group females danced on both sides of the street.

Winstead completed her show successfully, with no incidents from the impassioned, peaceful crowd.

Getting a start

Planned Parenthood, which currently operates more than 800 clinics in the U.S., has been in the reproductive health care business for more than 90 years, according to the organization’s website. In 2010, Planned Parenthood patient visits accounted for 60 percent of contraception visits, 16 percent for pregnancy tests, 10 percent for STI testing and treatment, 10 percent for cancer screening and prevention, two percent for prenatal services and two percent for abortion services, according to Planned Parenthood Mid and South Michigan.

“Planned Parenthood has done more (for people) than any other organization out there,” Desiree Cooper, director of community relations for PPMSM regions, said. “Our issue is to make sure everyone, when they find that they are having a child, has options.”

The Opposition

But not everyone agrees. The organization has a long history of opposition from pro-life advocates, as well as those critical of its policies that condone contraception.

Monica Migliorino Miller, director for Citizens for a Pro-life Society, works with pro-life supporters in Oakland County to keep people at the new building every day, picketing and praying for its obstruction.

“I think any place that kills innocent human life is always a bad idea, no matter where it goes,” she said. “The issue is abortion, not contraception. I think more students are going to be getting abortions at that clinic if it happens to open. I feel that the death of any innocent unborn child is a tragedy … it’s something that everybody should be opposed to.”

Though the mission of the company is to, “ensure broad publicaccess to reproductive health care through medical services, education and advocacy,” Barb Yagley, a vigil coordinator for 40 Days for Life, believes the company is encouraging minors to deceive their parents.

“Planned Parenthood, beyond the fact that they do abortions, severs relationships between mothers and their daughters by encouraging teenagers to come to them for their sexual education and birth control, without requiring parental consent,” she said. “They are underhanded and sneaky about encouraging teenagers to go behind their parents back.”

Stacy Swimp, the president of the Fredrick Douglas Foundation of Michigan, claims the organization is trying to abolish the African American population.

“Margaret Sanger, who founded Planned Parenthood, wrote in a letter to Clarence Gamble that she wanted to exterminate the Negro population,” he said. “The fact that they are positioning abortion clinics in black communities alerts us to the fact that the sinister agenda of Planned Parenthood is to commit genocide against black children.”

Planned Parenthood director Cooper disagreed, saying the largest cause of abortions is from unplanned pregnancies, which is what the organization is trying to prevent.

“We’re about giving equal help to everyone that needs it,” she said. “Nationally, the abortion rates are often higher for communities of color and impoverished communities because of the lack of access to birth control. Planned Parenthood is one of the few organizations that really provides that access and if we had more access and more options in those communities, we’d have less unwanted pregnancies and the abortion rates will go down. This is not a question of race … we don’t rope people in and hold them against their will … we hope they will come in earlier to get help and plan for a family … by doing that, the abortion rate will go down in all communities.”

Campus speaks out

“I think that a Planned Parenthood so close to both our university, other colleges and also the city of Pontiac is beneficial in many ways,” Catherine Pannell, a senior majoring in social work, said. “College students may be reluctant to use on campus resources, so with Planned Parenthood, they can go straight to professionals for services they might not otherwise seek. For the people of Pontiac, it’s beneficial because of the limited resources provided in the city. This will be a tremendous help to those who can sometimes not afford to provide for their families, let alone pay a medical bill or fee to be tested or treated for sexual conditions.”

At Oakland, various student organizations are working together to make the campus more Planned Parenthood-friendly, starting with GSA, SAGA and Women and Gender Studies students.

“I believe that college is a time in someone’s life when they have the freedom to come out and be who they are,” Malile said. “The GSC is a safe place for students to go to.  I love what SAGA stands for.  They are advocating for everyone and bringing issues to the table that people don’t acknowledge.”

Van Vilet hopes the organizations will help make the school more well-rounded.

“Through communicating with different organizations outside of campus, the GSA will be hosting programs in the fall to promote women’s advocacy and awareness about health and legislation, especially in relation to pay equity and Title IX,” Van Vilet said. “I am also reaching out to Oakland County’s Women Advisory Commission to utilize their knowledge and programs to bring here.”

Both a pro-life advocate and a Planned Parenthood supporter, Pannell is working with Van Vilet and other OU students to promote and encourage support to the new sexual health organization, “sex” that will be launched this year.

“The main purpose (of sex) is to promote and educate students on sexual awareness,” Pannell, president of the organization, said. “We plan on having different seminars and our main thing is to have a seminar for incoming freshman.”

Pannell believes children don’t choose whether they come into the world, but she also believes some Planned Parenthood efforts are important for women.

“Planned Parenthood gives different options for women,” Pannell said. “I am pro-life and I support Planned Parenthood for every other service they provide except abortions.”

Anne Wolf, a senior majoring in psychology, was the president of the student organization Students for Life last year.

“When other students want to go though Planned Parenthood, they are supporting an abortion-like agenda, which includes killing unborn babies,” she said. “That’s where we have a problem … we really want to enforce that no matter what lifestyle or choices are made, abortion kills unborn babies.”