Demings, Crist Vote To Pass House Measures To Protect Abortion Rights

FLORIDA — While a large pro-choice demonstration took place in front of the J.W. Marriott Water Street in Tampa, inside one auditorium of the hotel, their cries fell on the deaf ears as the conservative Moms For Liberty hosted its first national summit.

The summit featured speeches and panels featuring Republican leaders, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody and U.S. Sen. Rick Scott.

In an auditorium on the other side of the same hotel, protesters were preaching to the choir.

Taking place there this weekend was the Florida Democratic Party's Leadership Blue 2022 summit attended by vocal pro-choice candidates Florida Agriculture Commission Nikki Fried and U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, both vying for the governor's seat, state Reps. Fentrice Driskell and Anna V. Eskamani, and U.S. Rep Val Demings, D-Orlando, who's running for the U.S. Senate.

On Friday before heading to the summit in Tampa, Demings and Crist joined fellow Democratic members of the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C., in passing legislation intended to soften the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court's June 24 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the Jan. 22, 1973, landmark legislation giving women access to legal abortions.

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One bill, the Women’s Health Protection Act, co-sponsored by Demings, would preserve the protections provided under Roe v. Wade as federal law. The House passed the bill last year, but it failed to advance in the Senate.

On Friday, the House vote was 219-210 vote. All House Republicans voted against it.

The House also passed the Ensuring Women’s Right to Reproductive Freedom Act, protecting a woman's access to reproductive health care, including the ability to travel across state lines for an abortion. That bill passed 223-205 with Republicans from Illinois, Michigan and Pennsylvania joining Democrats in backing the bill.

The fate of the bills designed to negate the Supreme Court's actions is now goes to the Senate, where chances of passage are bleak due to fierce Republican opposition, including Scott's.

Nevertheless, Demings said she will continue the fight.

“As a mother, a woman of faith and a former law enforcement officer, I will never stop fighting for the rights and freedoms of America’s women and girls," she said in a statement Friday. "Our freedom is under attack, but I have not despaired. We have tools at our disposal, and we’re going to use them. We cannot go back to a time when women were treated as second-class citizens who don’t have control over our own bodies."

Despite the pro-choice demonstrations taking place outside the Moms For Liberty convention, abortion wasn't even on the summit's agenda.

Based in Melbourne, Moms For Liberty was founded Jan. 1 by Tina Descovich, former Brevard County school board member, and Tiffany Justice, former Indian River County school board member. In record time, the group has grown to 135 chapters in 35 states, with 56,000 members and supporters, according to its website.

"Moms for Liberty is a united group of parents across the country who are working to defend our parental rights at all levels of government," Justice said. "We both saw a need for parents to reclaim their children's education, and I think the timing was right for the organization to grow."

In Florida, the organization has campaigned against COVID-19 restrictions in schools, including mask and vaccine mandates, teaching critical race theory and has spoken out in favor of banning books from school libraries and classroom curriculum that address gender and sexuality issues, all issues that DeSantis espoused during this year's legislative session.

A panel Saturday with Scott and Ryan Petty, a school safety activist whose 14-year-old daughter was killed during the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, dealt with school safety.

"It was great to speak at the Moms For Liberty summit about the importance of school safety and what we did in Florida to keep our kids safe," Scott commented on Twitter. "Parent involvement in education creates safer and better schools, and I’m proud to see Moms For Liberty working to amplify parents’ voices."