On the heels of Ohio’s historic election, voting to protect reproductive freedom in the state constitution, momentum has been building around the country with other states looking to follow suit.

Floridians Protecting Freedom (FPF) – an alliance of partner organizations including ACLU of Florida, Florida Rising, Women’s Voices of Southwest Florida, Florida Women’s Freedom Coalition, SEIU 1199 Florida, and Planned Parenthood – worked to gather the 891,523 petitions required to put a potential amendment protecting abortion on the ballot.

In eight months, they were able to get 1,183,812, according to the organization. Over 900,000 have been validated by the Florida Division of Elections so far.

“The fact that we only launched our campaign eight months ago and we’ve already reached our petition goal speaks to the unprecedented support and momentum there is to get politicians out of our private lives and health care decisions,” said campaign director Lauren Brenzel.

NBC reports that at least 150,000 of the validated signatures derive from Republican registered voters, proving one of FPF’s driving points of this initiative: reproductive rights are bipartisan. Taylor Aguilera, organizing director of FPF says that reframing the issue to a bipartisan mindset is reflective of real people’s experiences navigating abortion and reproductive healthcare.

“None of the patients who are facing hardships with the current 15 week ban have to show their voter registration card in order to receive care,” she said. “Ultimately, they are on the frontlines, they are the people who are experiencing the hardships.”

Gathering all the necessary signatures required organizers and volunteers rolling up their sleeves in their community – facing Florida heat, hurricanes, and extremist politicians.

“None of these threats have ever slowed our team down. Everybody has remained laser-focused because they understand what’s at stake.” said Aguilera.

Dawnyelle Singleton, manager of volunteers and community programs at Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, is also a member of the Black in Repro coalition, which is made up of  Black leaders in the state who focus on reproductive health and justice.

Singleton says that it was essential to engage marginalized communities around the ballot initiative, as people of color are most impacted by abortion restrictions, but cited that strategy was involved in reaching these individuals who are historically left out.

“We just couldn’t show up. And say you need to do this because of this. We had to really ground ourselves in the reasoning and the background and the history of reproductive health and justice in a lot of these communities,” said Singleton, explaining that partner organizations hosted Renaissance film screenings, cafecitos, and events at barbershops to engage people.

Now that signatures are gathered, granting the amendment eligibility to be on the ballot in the upcoming election, the initiative awaits the approval from the Florida Supreme Court, which needs to approve the wording. Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, and groups like Florida Voters Against Extremism, have questioned the validity of the proposed amendment’s language, asking the Florida Supreme Court to keep the initiative off the ballot.

“My decision to oppose the placement of Floridians Protecting Freedom, Inc.’s initiative on the ballot has nothing to do with my personal views on abortion. Instead, as I have done throughout my two terms, I have objected to initiatives when the language of the summary will mislead voters. Floridians Protecting Freedom’s initiative is one of the worst I have seen,” Moody wrote in a Florida’s Voice opinion piece published in October.

FPF stands behind the language used in the amendment proposal. Aguilera says that in her role she often facilitates speaking engagements, and asks people in attendance their understanding of viability.

“I don’t give them the dictionary definition, I don’t give them the statute definition. I allow the people in the room to speak, and everybody understands what viability means,” said Aguilera.

Both Aguilera and Sarah Parker, president of Women’s Voices of Southwest Florida, refer to Moody’s comments as politically motivated.

“It’s really disingenuous to believe that voters are not smart enough to understand that paragraph. People understand, it’s already been defined in healthcare. It’s already been defined in legalese. We understand what the word viability means,” said Parker.

Engaging Latinos

A significant portion of Florida’s population is Latino, about 27%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In the 2020 election, Latinos made up 17% of Florida’s registered voters – a record high for the state.

Still, Spanish-dominant individuals have few options in media outlets or campaigns catered specifically to this community. Navigating myths and disinformation was a struggle in the last presidential campaign, reports CNN, as false information spread across social media sites like Facebook and WhatsApp.

Ahead of this year’s election, the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice (the Latina Institute) is running a Spanish language billboard campaign aimed at destigmatizing abortion in Latino communities. The ad reads “aborto sí, aborto no, eso lo decido yo,”which translates to “abortion yes, abortion no, that’s my decision.”

Charo Valero, the Florida state manager for the Latina Institute says that you don’t find many messages like this in Spanish because of the shame and stigma associated with abortion, even though many support it. According to a 2022 survey by Pew Research Center, 57% of Latinos said that abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

“Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, Florida and national, is so big on just having this conversation over and over in a way that isn’t stigmatizing, in a way that normalizes and really empowers folks to share their stories,” said Valero.

Many Latino immigrants are coming to the U.S. from countries where they don’t have to guess what it looks like when reproductive rights are stripped, they’ve experienced it first-hand.

Abortion has been completely illegal in El Salvador for 25 years, causing many women to be convicted of crimes stemming from their miscarriages and stillbirths. In the Dominican Republic, a person can face two years in prison for having an abortion, and doctors face 5 to 20, according to AP.

An upcoming hearing on Feb. 7 will determine if the proposed amendment is added to the ballot. If it’s passed, at least 60% of voters will have to support the amendment on Election Day. Despite conservative leadership and the continued bans on healthcare FPF is confident that Floridians will prioritize their reproductive freedoms at the polls.

“I know people nationally sometimes have given up on Florida, but Florida has not given up on themselves,” said Parker.