After a long year of attacks on abortion rights, Florida’s LGBTQ+ communities and the teaching of “controversial” issues in classrooms (and the faculty/teachers who facilitate it), Orlando Democrats kicked off 2023 with a rally in support of abortion access.
Under overcast skies, a crowd of about 200 people gathered downtown at Orlando City Hall early Saturday afternoon. A counter-protest was also scheduled, but ended up being just, like, five lonely people standing in front of the Bank of America building.
Saturday’s pro-choice rally, organized by State Rep. Anna Eskamani as part of a national weekend of action for abortion rights, was staged just one day before the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision, which guaranteed a constitutional right to abortion. It was just one of at least 18 planned events in Florida, including an event in Tallahassee on Sunday that's getting a visit from special guest Vice President Kamala Harris.
But the commemoration is a sober one. In June 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade with their decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, rolling back generations of reproductive rights.
Only 48 hours after the ruling, abortion care providers had closed across nine states. Today, abortion is effectively banned in 13 states. And, according to Abortion Finder, a project of the nonprofit Power to Decide, 14 states are now without a health center that offers any abortion care, impacting...
Amid a shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner venue that appeared to target U.S. President Donald Trump and senior administration officials, conspiracy theories related to the...