Stephanie Lopez of Coconut Creek stood proudly in a park in downtown Fort Lauderdale, holding up a hand-lettered sign with a clever play on words: “We are not ovary-acting.”
She was among hundreds of people who gathered in Broward Saturday to stand up for abortion rights and to protest the harshly restrictive Texas law that bans abortion after six weeks, with no exceptions for rape or incest. The radical law also encourages citizens to become anti-abortion vigilantes by ratting out others who seek the procedure.
Florida is one of many states seriously considering similar abortion restrictions, despite enormous opposition. Outraged, highly motivated Floridians from across the state rallied Saturday in Delray Beach, Miami, Orlando, Tampa and many other cities, and hundreds more rallies took place in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., in a massive show of activism.
“I’ve got to support my fellow women,” Lopez said, “and take back control of my body.”
Lopez’s presence at Huizenga Park in Fort Lauderdale is symbolically significant for other reasons: She’s young, 31, and registered to vote but is neither Democrat nor Republican. She has no party affiliation in a state where NPAs now account for nearly 30% of all voters. These are the people who must speak up for reproductive freedom.
The crowd in Broward was very fired up, a sure sign that this direct assault on women could be the dominant issue in midterm elections across the country and especially in Florida, as voters also choose a governor and U.S. senator.
Rally speakers included two Democratic members of Congress, Ted Deutch of Boca Raton and Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Weston; state Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-West Park; Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis and City Commissioner Steve Glassman, among others.
As the crowd introduced her with chants of “Deb-BIE, Deb-BIE,” Wasserman Schultz noted many women have irregular menstrual cycles and may not even realize they are pregnant for eight weeks or more — ending their right to an abortion in Texas.
As she spoke, college-age kids in “People Power” T-shirts walked through the crowd carrying clipboards, looking to register new voters, which brings us to the heart of the matter.
All the rallies in the world won’t stop Republican legislators from passing new abortion restrictions. Public opinion is often the last thing on their minds.
Nor does it matter whether the new law they will vote for is constitutional.
What’s important is for all voters to channel their anger into a determination to vote, especially young people with no ties to either party who are less likely to vote than other groups.
Voters must realize as never before the direct connection between their choices at the ballot box and whether freedom of choice will continue to be legal in Florida.
The same Republican politicians who fiercely and loudly oppose mask mandates and vaccination requirements by misappropriating pro-choice slogans like “my body, my choice” also hypocritically want to eliminate access to safe and legal abortion that has existed since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973.
The first fetal heartbeat bill for Florida’s 2022 session is House Bill 167, sponsored by Rep. Webster Barnaby, R-Deltona.
At a time when Florida residents face skyrocketing property insurance premiums, increasing threats from climate change and an affordable housing crisis, restricting abortion rises to the top of the legislative agenda. Why? It motivates the Republican base.
At the rally in Fort Lauderdale, Rep. Deutch surveyed the sunbaked crowd and called it a “pretty good showing.” That was generous. COVID-19 undoubtedly kept a lot of people away, and that’s understandable, but many, many more people must get involved, especially men.
Human rights are at stake here — and that’s not overreacting.