Tallahassee, FL – On February 16, organizations from around the state came to Tallahassee to stand up for reproductive rights and against HB5. On that day, the Florida House debated the unconstitutional and restrictive anti-abortion bill, HB5.

HB5 would eliminate any abortions after 15 weeks, with no exception in cases of rape, incest or human trafficking, and criminalize medical professionals who provide abortions.

Standing against this bill are organizations from around the state including FSU/UNF/USF Students for a Democratic Society, Tampa Bay Community Action Committee (TBCAC), Tallahassee Community Action Committee (TCAC), and statewide chapters of Planned Parenthood.

Kill the bill: Students fight back

To begin the day, Florida chapters of Students for a Democratic Society held a rally of around 70 people on the Historic Florida Capitol steps to demand reproductive rights for all. “The fact that [SDS chapters] drove hours across Florida with just a few days' notice to fight this bill shows the dedication we have,” stated Cas Casanova of FSU SDS. The students spoke on topics ranging from the future of Roe v. Wade to how HB5 impacts oppressed groups. One SDSer asserted that Florida Republicans’ “facade of concern for the Black community is just another attempt to gaslight us into silence.”

This was SDS’s second statewide action against HB5; the first action ended with the House trying to silence SDSers to no avail. In the face of repeated repression, FSU student Alana Felton of FSU GenAction stood up and declared “We will not go away, and we will not be silenced!”

Defeat the abortion ban: The community continues the struggle

After the student protest, the Tallahassee Community Action Committee held a protest of over 30 people to further the demands of reproductive justice.

“Reproductive justice is an issue that affects everyone, whether you have a uterus or not,” said Delilah Pierre, field director for TCAC.

Taylor Cook, a speaker at both TCAC and SDS’s protest, talked about the bill’s effects on working-class communities in Florida: “These bills are an attack on Black and brown people and on poor people.”

While the community was rallying, the Florida House abruptly began debating HB5. TCAC quickly ended the rally and flooded the gallery.

All day occupation: Planned Parenthood v. abortion ban

While the protests continued outside, Planned Parenthood chapters from around the state occupied the Capitol gallery the entire day. Beginning with a march to the capitol, Planned Parenthood was still at the capitol after midnight.

With a force of more than 100 volunteers, Planned Parenthood demanded that HB5 be voted down in the House. “Abortion bans are dangerous, racist, classist and deeply invasive and we’re going to keep fighting them,” stated Ally Walchak from Planned Parenthood.

Bill passes, struggle continues

As sponsoring Representative Erin Grall ® began her closing remarks, which were riddled with disgusting anti-abortion arguments, SDSers began chants of “My body, my choice.” Police and capitol staff aggressively grabbed the students, pushed them out of the hall, and demanded they leave. As the SDSers and Planned Parenthood representatives exited the elevator to leave, they were confronted and detained by Capitol Police at the order of the Florida Speaker of the House Chris Sprowls.

Every single pro-choice advocate, no matter if they chanted, was ‘trespassed’. This means that, for the next year, if they step inside of the Florida House, they will be arrested on the spot. Lauren Brenzel, a Planned Parenthood activist who never chanted and refused to take the trespassing charge, was subsequently arrested and held overnight in jail.

While Florida Republicans have fast tracked this bill through the legislative process, the bill remains unconstitutional as it violates Roe v. Wade. The Florida Republicans are hoping to pass this unconstitutional bill in hopes that Roe v. Wade will be overturned by the Supreme Court this summer. Students, community organizations and individuals around the country will continue to stand against repressive anti-abortion bills.

Dare to struggle! Dare to win!

#Tallahassee #abortion #DenverStudentsForADemocraticSociety #HB5

Capitol Police threatened to arrest organizers if they did not sign a trespassing warning that indefinitely banned them from entering the Florida Capitol Building. Planned Parenthood activist Lauren Brenzel was arrested and detained for not signing the trespassing warning. Both Brenzel and Lakey Love, the leader of the Florida Coalition for Transgender Liberation and a member of the Tallahassee Community Action Committee, were threatened with trespassing warnings at the capitol, being targeted for their role in organizing against HB 7, a bill that would seriously restrict any serious discussion of race, gender or sexuality in the classroom, and HB 5. Love and Brenzel had not participated in any civil disobedience at the time of their arrest.

“This year the sergeant at arms in the House of Representatives tried to violate me for trespassing when I was doing nothing wrong. That would have blocked me from the Florida House Office Building for over a year, requiring permission from the House sergeant at arms to enter and enter only with a Capitol Police escort. I got them to drop the issue but only by having everyone in my group go live and film, demanding they give me a legitimate reason, and calling in a legal observer,” said Love.

Cas Casanova, an attendee at the HB5 hearing and a member of the Students for A Democratic Society, also commented on the situation, expressing disappointment in the conduct of the Florida House.

“We were told from the second we walked in that ‘freedom of speech doesn’t exist here’ [at the Florida House]. The voices of Floridians, from student to the community members, are not valued by our representatives or our government,” said Casanova.

SDS, TCAC, and other organizations vowed to fight against this repression and make sure organizers in Tallahassee have the right to protest injustice.

#Tallahassee #WomensMovement #Healthcare #reproductiveRights #HB5 #antiAbortion

Tallahassee, FL – On January 27, members of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) from across Florida gathered at the State Capitol to protest HB5, which is widely known as the “abortion ban bill.” 70 activists gathered on the steps of the building where the Florida House meets, including dozens who traveled from Tampa and Jacksonville to join Tallahassee activists in opposing this bill.

SDS made it clear that they view this bill as an attack on reproductive rights, women's rights, and the right to choose what to do with your body. They and many others gave speeches to oppose it wholeheartedly.

The abortion ban bill is officially titled “HB5: Reducing Fetal and Infant Mortality.” Opposers, both within the legislature and without, have pointed out the misleading nature of the title. Members of the Florida legislature such as Representative Anna Eskamani attended the event, making clear that they united with the people’s demands to kill the bill. Gia Davila, a member of USF SDS, demanded students and community members “let these legislators know that the passing of this bill does not represent the wishes of the people.”

The bill was passed in a committee the week prior and was put to vote again on the January 27. This bill is not the first of its kind. Texas passed a similar bill, S. B. 8, banning all abortion-related healthcare procedures after just 6 weeks of pregnancy. This blatant wave of attacks on reproductive rights across the country have not gone unnoticed by student and mass activists.

“Right now, there is no question that Black and brown people are disadvantaged by policies set and enforced by this government right now,” stated Laura of Tampa Bay SDS. “They cause and they uphold ideals of white supremacy. Then they blame Black and brown people for the inequalities that they cause.”

Along with SDS, other organizations such as FAMU Generation Action, Planned Parenthood, Dream Defenders, Florida Student Power Network and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization were also present at the event.

Noelle Williams of FAMU GenAction stated, “Attacks on abortion aren’t the end, but they are a symptom of a system that continually creates inequity. States like Florida that attack access to abortion tend to be the same states that fail to prioritize citizens’ well-being in a multitude of other ways.”

Monica Martinez of UNF SDS brought attention to racism in the medical community. “We’ve seen the ways that the medical system has disadvantaged these communities in forcing them to have hysterectomies or not granting immediate health care,” she said. “This bill will become another way to force these already oppressed communities to continue their unwanted pregnancies.”

The protesters then entered the meeting and signed up to speak during public comment, despite efforts from House staff to limit comment. Once public comment began, the commenters were overwhelmingly in opposition, truly showing the unpopular nature of this bill. Before the public was finished commenting on the bill, the Republican subcommittee chair abruptly cut off a speaker and declared that public comment was over. This caused the SDSers, who were cut off in the middle of speaking, to chant and disrupt the meeting before they were eventually kicked out along with the rest of the public.

According to Florida law, all meetings such as these must be done “in the sunshine,” or in the public eye so as to avoid secrecy and enforce transparency. Even though some House representatives then raised that the meeting should be canceled because members of the public were not present, the chairs forced through an extension of the meeting and the Republican majority then passed the bill.

“I can’t imagine anything more terrifying to a conservative legislative body than a group of young people demanding that the needs of the working-class people, women, Black and brown Floridians, and queer and trans folks be addressed in not only abortion access, but the entire policy arm of Florida,” stated Lauren Brenzel, representing Florida Planned Parenthood. “It’s unsurprising that these same individuals tried to silence these voices after only 30 minutes of public testimony – the record shows people are against abortion bans and looking for solutions to Florida’s poor wages, lack of healthcare, and affordable housing crisis.” Brenzel and at least 50 others were forcibly removed from the committee meeting after chanting “Let us speak!” when public comment was brought to a premature end.

SDS and the other groups present continued protesting outside after being kicked out of the meeting. Upon hearing about the passage of the bill, they declared that the fight was on to kill this bill and other abortion ban bills all around the country.

“We truly showed the power of the people,” said Taylor Cook, who has been a member of Tampa Bay SDS since 2018. “They tried to shut us down but we continued to fight after being kicked out of the meeting and we will continue to fight back until our rights are protected and this bill is killed!”

#TallahasseeFL #PeoplesStruggles #abortion #HB5