Reproductive Rights: Manatee County is a Target

It is final days for collecting petitions to put on the 2024 ballot a constitutional ”Amendment to Limit Government Interference in Abortion”. We are fighting for women to be able to make their healthcare decisions, not politicians. If Florida does not have this constitutional right, the impact on women and families will be profound. Where will women go to get reproductive health care? The closest state to Florida where women can obtain an abortion is Virginia, and their resources are already strained to meet Virginia’s current needs.

While the total number of petitions needed for the constitutional amendment will be met with 1.2 million petitions already collected, not enough congressional districts have met their required number to satisfy mandated geographic diversity requirements. Petition gathering has stopped in the six districts that have met the requirement and the districts that are so far from the goal they cannot be met. Ten districts are targeted as close enough to possibly obtain enough petitions but do not have enough yet.  Manatee County is a critical district for gathering petitions!

To make this goal even more challenging, the deadline for petition submission at the hub has been moved backward to December 15, 2023, due to processing time requirements. The Bradenton hub will be closed after that date. 

Let’s make this happen. Here is how:

• Please get out into your communities in the coming weeks to collect petitions, whether by committing to one of the volunteer shifts, gathering petitions on your own, or in some other way. Click Here to Sign or Print the Petition. For information, email info@lwvmanatee.org.
• TURN IN YOUR PETITIONS ASAP, either at a local hub or mail to: Floridians Protecting Freedom, PO Box 4068, Sarasota, FL 34230.
• Participate in Sign Up Saturday on December 9, 2023. Join us at the designated locations and times. Sign a petition, bring a friend to sign, or even bring signed petitions you have gathered.