Floridians Protecting Freedom, a group that supports legal abortion rights, brought together leaders from like-minded organizations in hopes of gathering the nearly 900,000 signatures needed for a 2024 ballot measure that would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution. will confirm.
Organizations joining the initiative include Planned Parenthood, Florida Rising, a statewide voting rights organization, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
“We have to do something to make sure that the right to abortion is clearly stated in the constitution,” said Amy Weintraub, director of Progress Florida’s reproductive rights program.
Other such groups are also reviving and increasing their fundraising efforts. Since 1976, the Women’s Emergency Network (WEN) has helped people pay for abortions in Florida. With limited exceptions, Medicaid doesn’t cover abortion, but the network has helped women cover those costs.
However, now the organization and its members say they have a new momentum. Last week, she held a fundraiser at the Coconut Grove home of a prominent sculptor to raise money not only to help pay for abortions for women in the state, but also to finance her travels to other states. Where the right to abortion is protected.
Jeri Beth Cohen, a former Miami-Dade circuit judge who is part of WEN, said there is a renewed determination among the group’s members to fight for women’s rights. At Wednesday night’s fundraiser, the group raised $47,000, which will be matched by the National Network of Abortion Funds (NNAF), for a total of $94,000. Factoring in matching funds, the group has raised $173,300 in the past two months, according to the organizers.
At the fundraiser, ballots were distributed to many of the 100 attendees, who were encouraged to help collect signatures for the ballot measure.
