Manatee County declares ‘Victory for Life Day’ to celebrate new abortion restrictions
As the latest episode in a series of anti-abortion efforts, Manatee County officials celebrated “Victory for Life Day” on Tuesday following the end of Roe v. Wade.
During its public meeting, the Manatee Board of County Commissioners voted to designate July 26, 2022, as “Victory for Life Day” with a proclamation that thanks U.S. Supreme Court Justices and anti-abortion politicians for their votes limiting access to abortion procedures.
State Rep. Will Robinson, R-Bradenton, who voted in favor of Florida’s recent law banning abortions after 15 weeks, attended the public meeting to accept the proclamation.
“On behalf of thousands of Floridians, I proudly accept this proclamation,” Robinson told the board. “This is such an incredible, important (proclamation). I’m very proud of the pro-life policies we have adopted in Florida, including the 15-week ban.”
A handful of abortion-rights residents spoke during public comment to criticize board members for using Tuesday’s meeting to honor recent decisions impacting women’s reproductive rights. A half dozen people held signs in the audience that read “Abortion for All,” “SHAME” and “Abortion is healthcare.”
“It’s not appropriate for the commission to take a side on this issue,” said Faith Lipton. “This has nothing to do with the commission’s job. Please don’t take your personal, religious beliefs to this meeting to pander to people who think like you.”
“It’s a woman’s right to decide, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to have one. It’s about having a choice,” Peggy Gardiner said.
In a statement provided to the Bradenton Herald, Stephanie Fraim, Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida’s president and CEO, also condemned the board’s decision to celebrate July 26, 2022 as “Victory for Life Day,” calling it “callous and cruel.”
“The Manatee County Commissioners should be looking to their community and addressing their needs. A real victory for families would be: affordable health care, affordable housing, supporting clean water, protecting our environment, improving public education and public safety,” Fraim wrote. “Planned Parenthood will not turn our backs on the people of Manatee County, we will keep providing care and fighting for them.”
In June, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to overturn 1973’s Roe v. Wade ruling, which had protected the constitutional right to an abortion, the medical procedure to end a pregnancy, for nearly 50 years. The ruling leaves it up to each state to determine its abortion policy.
“These elected leaders and countless grassroots right-to-life activists and organizations contributed to the defense of the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness of the unborn by supporting pro-life justices and legislation,” the proclamation says.
“This is the right thing to do. It’s been the right thing to do. Fifteen weeks is moderate, but it’s progress,” Commissioner James Satcher said, referring to Florida’s new abortion law.
Commissioner Reggie Bellamy was the only board member to vote against accepting the “Victory for Life Day” proclamation. He explained that he couldn’t support legislation that limits a choice for someone else.
“The majority in the state of Florida does not agree with this, and I think we need to keep that out there in front of us,” Bellamy said, referring to recent statewide polls. “I think we’re in a very, very unfortunate time in society when we’re taking a voice away from women.”
The proclamation isn’t the first time county leaders have tried treating abortion as a local issue.
Last summer, Satcher asked his fellow board members to consider a ban on new abortion clinics in Manatee County. The proposal sought to the county into a “Sanctuary for the Unborn.”
Manatee County, however, does not have any active abortion clinics. The nearest option is a Planned Parenthood facility in downtown Sarasota.
In October, about 600 activists took to the streets of downtown Bradenton to participate in a Women’s March protest that called on politicians to protect reproductive rights.
Still, most commissioners believed the ban was a goal worth pursuing. At the time, Satcher said he wanted to prevent abortion clinics from ever operating in Manatee County.
“I keep hearing we don’t have any of these facilities. Let’s keep it that way. This is Florida. This is our state,” Satcher said at a previous meeting. “We have the chance to put a couple of lines in the sand and plant a couple of flags and say this is not a community where we’re going to have abortion on demand.”
But Satcher’s idea faced steep legal hurdles. Commissioners asked Florida’s Attorney General for guidance on moving that proposal forward, but they soon learned that banning abortion clinics entirely would violate state law.
The general counsel for the Attorney General wrote, “The county is not authorized to adopt an ordinance regulating (other than reasonable zoning ordinances) or banning such clinics because such an ordinance would be preempted by Florida law.”
This story was originally published July 26, 2022 at 5:45 AM.
