Orlando, FL – On March 4, members of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) and the Orlando Liberation Initiative (OLI) held a speak out to commemorate International Women’s Day, a holiday honoring the contributions of women to the people’s struggle. With attacks on reproductive rights intensifying, the activists gathered to speak on the history of International Women’s Day, the current state of the women’s movement internationally, and how to fight back against gender-based oppression, especially in Florida, which is leading the crusade against reproductive rights.

In Florida, these attacks on basic rights like reproductive rights and bodily autonomy are “getting more common and more aggressive,” said Tyler Register from FRSO. The Florida Republicans have just introduced SB 300, which would ban abortion after six weeks, amending their previous abortion ban from last session. Additionally, the Florida Republicans are continuing their full-out attack on trans people within the state. Similar bills are spreading like wildfire as they are debated and passed in legislatures across the country.

Even though the overturning of Roe has spurred thousands into action, the fight for reproductive rights “is so much more than Roe” explained an organizer from OLI. “We need to reconstruct the foundations of society” that create the conditions for gender-based oppression.

The OLI organizer continued that every day they are “talking to their comrades about how things are getting worse in this city, state and country”. This is a commonly held sentiment among people around the country; rent is rising, wages are stagnant, infrastructure is crumbling, healthcare is expensive, and repression is increasing.

With a political system filled with corruption, where the 1% exert their influence, we need to contextualize these attacks on fundamental rights. Jacob Muldoon from FRSO states, these attacks are part of a “systematic right-wing, billionaire-funded campaign to erase the gains of the women’s, LGBTQ and civil rights movements.”

Muldoon continued, “Their vision for the country is shaped by a backward, religious worldview. They want to ban abortion, marginalize trans people and get rid of any teaching about racist inequality in schools.”

While reproductive rights are under fierce attack, the inequality women face is more than this. Women workers, on average, only earn 77% of male workers in the workforce. Black women earn about 77% of the average income for all women, and Chicana and Latina women only earn about 70% of the average for all women

International Women’s Day exemplifies the need for a mass movement strong enough to smash their system and break the chains of oppression – a movement that will defend reproductive rights and fight for women’s rights! No rights are given, they are won through struggle.

#OrlandoFL #InternationalWomensDay