Videos circulating on Twitter showed the large crowd outside the Tampa Marriott Water Street, where the convention is being held. Among those in attendance is Pinellas County pro-election activist Fara Dawn, who posted a video of the protest on Twitter.
The demonstration is a reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court that overturned Roe v. Wade last month and the Florida Legislature passed a ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy during its 2022 session. The legislation was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on April 14th.
Since then, Florida pro-election groups have filed a series of lawsuits to prevent the new law from coming into force. Last week, Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper issued a temporary warrant to block the law, saying it violated the Florida Constitution.
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However, the state appealed the requirement, prompting an automatic suspension of Cooper’s sentence and keeping the new law in place.
While conservative Moms For Liberty, initiated by two former Florida school board members, has not made abortion one of the problems on its platform, DeSantis’ presence at the first national Moms of Liberty summit on Friday morning , along with Attorney General Ashley Moody and former U.S. Gov. and now U.S. Sen. Rick Scott on Saturday, turned the summit into an ideal forum for Tampa Bay election advocates to express dismay at the actions. of the Florida Supreme Court and Legislature, said the Tampa Bay Coalition for Women’s Rights.
At the same time, the hotel is also the site of the Florida Democratic Party’s 2022 Blue Leadership Summit from July 15-17, which was attended by candidates in favor of the Florida Agriculture Commission election. Nikki Fried and U.S. Representative Charlie Christ, both competing for the governor’s seat. , state representatives Fentrice Driskell and Anna V. Eskamani, and U.S. Senate candidate Val Demings.
“This is an opportunity to present ourselves en masse and show them that we will not rest until this war against bodily autonomy is over,” the coalition said in its invitation to protest on Facebook.
Led by both the coalition and the Tampa Bay Party for Socialism and Liberation, the protest began Saturday at 10 a.m. at Lykes Gaslight Park in downtown Tampa. Gathering supporters along the way, protesters marched toward Marriott Water Street at 505 Water St. to continue the protest while Moms For Liberty organized a forum with Scott and listened to Moody inside the hotel.
Moms For Liberty has not commented on the protests taking place outside the hotel.