TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Nearly 40 people signed up to sway commissioners to vote either for or against a resolution to protect and strengthen Florida citizens' right to reproductive healthcare, including abortion.
Many of those who took to the podium spoke against the resolution.
“Abortion is not only immoral,” said Chase Coby. “It is sinful, it is wicked, it is wrong, it is vile, it is repugnant.”
Alice Ball hobbled to the mic on the heels of reproductive surgery.
“I underwent a laparoscopic, bi-lateral tubal ligation, which means I had both my Fallopian tubes removed,” said Ball.
She’s asking commissioners for their support.
“If I had just had access to it in the beginning,” Ball said, of abortion, “I wouldn’t have had such scar tissue buildup. I wouldn’t have had to have my tubes removed for me to be able to safely live.”
Mayor John Dailey, along with commissioners Jeremy Matlow and Jack Porter voted in favor of the resolution, while commissioners Curtis Richardson and Diane Williams-Cox opposed.
“I fully support a person's choice of what to do with their body, and I don’t want anybody to mistake my statements or my position on that,” said Williams-Cox. “I just do not think that we had a role or the authority to do anything meaningful that the legislature would even listen to or take seriously.”
The matter recently moved to the center of national discussion after a Texas policy banned abortions around six weeks.
In Florida, Governor Ron Desantis said, “I have a 100% pro-life record, and very much have supported it when I was in college and signed pro-life as governor.”
Mayor Dailey asked that the final resolution reflect individual board member votes.
