National Organization for Women

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FL NOW Working To Put Abortion On The Ballot

For Immediate Release: June 6, 2023

President Debbie Deland, Florida NOW
president@flnow.org (mailto:president@flnow.org)

 
TIME-SENSITIVE ACTION ALERT!
 
JOIN THE PETITION DRIVE TO “LIMIT GOVERNMENT
INTERFERENCE WITH ABORTION”

Governor DeSantis signed into law the 6-week abortion ban in the darkness of night on April 13, 2023. This law, like the 15-week ban before it, is dangerous and against the will of the majority of Floridians. It virtually bans abortion in our state and will continue to jeopardize women’s lives, their health, and shatter families.

FLORIDA NOW REACTS
Debbie Deland, Florida NOW President said, “Florida NOW is vigorously leading the drive to put legal abortion access on the 2024 ballot as a Constitutional amendment. When we win 60% supermajority approval in Nov 2024, we will succeed in reaching a major step towards Women’s Equality. On May 10, 2023 Floridians Protecting Freedom launched the citizen-initiated abortion access petition drive. The response is extraordinary all around the state and we need everyone to keep up the momentum. With many other organizations, groups, and individuals, we will advance women’s status in our country. In addition to FL NOW and its chapters driving this petition drive, many other groups are engaged, e.g., ACLU, Planned Parenthood, Women’s Voices of Southwest FL, FL Rising… We will make the choice to have an abortion legal.”

CALL FOR ACTION:
HERE’S WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE:
• Volunteers need to collect 900,000 Petitions, first deadline is December 31, 2023. Please note that petitions need to be mailed or dropped at a hub within seven days of signing.
• For link to download Petitions and to find a nearby hub, go to: https://floridiansprotectingfreedom.com/petition/ (https://floridiansprotectingfreedom.com/petition/).
• Petitions need to be filled out in black or blue ink.
• No petition will be accepted by email, scan, or fax – it must be the original hard copy petition.
• You cannot sign more than one petition.
• Only current, registered Florida voters can sign a petition.
• Must be written clearly, i.e., legibly. No scratch outs!
• No P.O. Box Address
• Enter County, not country
• Enter Birth Date in lieu of voter registration number
• Fully Complete Petition—sign and date
• Signature and Date Required
• Better to collect the signed petition than have the voter mail it

If local Hub not in your county, THE OFFICIAL HUB: Petition Collection (Floridians Protecting Freedom), Post Office Box 4068, Sarasota, FL 34230 and an Intake Sheet is requested.

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Florida NOW (https://flnow.org/): is an intersectional grassroots organization that promotes feminist ideals, leads societal change, eliminates discrimination, and protects the equal rights of all women and girls in all aspects of social, political, and economic life.

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Kat Duesterhaus @ OccupyTally Press Release. 4/4/23

We’re here today because our rights are being violated.  Not only our state constitutional rights to privacy, which includes our personal healthcare decisions, but as we were out against the near total abortion ban our 1st Amendment rights were also violated.

I’m calling for the City of Tallahassee to drop all charges against out peaceful protesters.

This is our reality in the state of Florida under the leadership of Ron DeSantis and a super majority of Republican extremists.

Florida is no longer a free state, and every day we snowball closer to fascism.

I want the legislators trying to pass laws on my body know that we are watching and we are voting.

I want the world to know that Ron DeSantis is a threat to the freedom and democracy.

I want the people watching to know we are all ok and not one bit deterred.  In fact, we are energized by your support and attention, and determined to keep going.

We must band together and fight back.

Join our resistance at @occupytally23

Stay woke Florida!

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April 12, 2023 Press Release from Debbie DeLand, President of FL NOW

Debbie Deland, President of FL NOW, said, “Floridians will not put up with this ban. It attacks all women and people who can get pregnant rights. Forcing pregnancy is un-American and overrides free will. It is scary to see a critical element of our democracy, the separation of church and state, blatantly ignored. Forcing one minority’s position on the majority is the beginning of autocracy. We are not a Christian nation. We are a nation of freedom of and from religion. We accept all religions, not just the Christian right. We have to recommit to the separation of church and state. Until we overturn this near-total abortion ban, many women will die, we will lose the majority of obstetricians in the state, we will make miscarriage a risk for prosecution, and we will force women into pregnancies they can’t afford or don’t want. Looking to 2024, we will take action to turn this around in FL. We will remain loud and never give up. We are in open rebellion against this racist and sexist ban. I never imagined that white men would take away women’s rights.”

Yesterday was sickening, and today’s news cuts even more profound. First, the Governor signed the near-total abortion ban. He did so at 11 pm while we were asleep, ignoring how cruel and unpopular this bill is with the public. DeSantis’s hubris knows no limit: not only has he presented like an autocrat for months, but he is also a coward.

Despite this bill being fast-tracked through the legislature and signed into law, ABORTION IS STILL LEGAL in Florida for up to 15 weeks. It will remain so until the Florida Supreme Court rules on a challenge to the 15-week ban, which is expected sometime this summer.