Women Are Fighting to Change Florida’s Constitution to Protect Abortion
Originally Published by Regan McCarthy for WUSF
Florida abortion advocates are working on obtaining enough petition signatures for a proposed amendment in the state constitution that explicitly protects abortion access.
It’s been a little longer than a year since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade— turning decisions about abortion access over to individual states.
In that time, Florida has enacted a law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks, passed a six-week ban that remains pending and prepared to challenge a privacy clause in the state constitution that has, in the past, been found to protect abortion rights.
Now, abortion advocates are working to put language in the state constitution that explicitly protects abortion access.
One of those is Trish Brown.
“As long as I have breath in my body, I’m going to continue to fight for freedom and liberation and I’m going to continue to fight to have control over my own body,” Brown told WFSU during a rainy rally outside Florida’s Historic Capitol in Tallahassee.
Brown and other members of the group had hoped to raise awareness about some of the social justice issues moving forward in Florida. They also planned to register new voters and collect petition signatures in support of a proposed constitutional amendment that would protect access to abortion.
A day of thunderstorms dampened their plans, but Brown says a bit of rain has never dampened her spirit. She believes in the causes she’s fighting for — especially the proposed amendment.
“We wouldn’t be out here fighting this hard for something we don’t believe in,” Brown says.