{"id":250304,"date":"2021-07-30T15:33:47","date_gmt":"2021-07-30T20:33:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=250304"},"modified":"2021-07-30T15:47:09","modified_gmt":"2021-07-30T20:47:09","slug":"abortion-protest-ordinance-florida-support-mothers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/abortion-protest-ordinance-florida-support-mothers\/","title":{"rendered":"As abortion advocates protest pro-life ordinance, Florida county votes to give $100,000 to support women and babies"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this guest post are solely those of the author and are not necessarily reflective of Live Action or Live Action News.<\/i><\/p>\n

While abortion advocates protested outside of the Manatee County Administration Building against the possibility of the county passing an ordinance outlawing abortion, the Manatee County Board of Commissioners voted 5-1 to give $100,000 to help pregnant mothers receive prenatal care through the work of Solve Maternity Homes and Care Net Manasota Pregnancy Center. Commissioner James Satcher praised the board\u2019s vote, stating \u201cI would just like to thank the board for passing the motion today to put some money where our priorities are, and that\u2019s toward helping Manatee County become a sanctuary city – a safe haven for mothers and for babies. This is a huge win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Commissioner Misty Servia, the lone vote against the measure, argued that the funds provided in the proposal were misplaced, arguing that the motion did not \u201cserve children, it serves pregnant women.\u201d Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge disagreed with Servia, stating<\/a>, \u201cNot only are the teens who are pregnant at risk, but their unborn child is at risk as well, and oftentimes they are being pressured to terminate that pregnancy, and to kill that unborn child.\u201d Ostenbridge continued, \u201cI don\u2019t know how much more at risk you can be than at risk of losing your life.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Commissioner James Satcher questioned if the hesitation some of the other commissioners had over the proposal was the result of the pressure applied that day from the Democrat Party and the pro-choice groups which were protesting outside. Commissioner Satcher quipped, \u201cThe Democrats show up, all 28 of them, with signs and march out front, and all of a sudden this is controversial!\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this summer, Satcher had entertained<\/a> the possibility of Manatee County passing an ordinance similar to the City of Lubbock which would outlaw abortion within their jurisdiction. At the time, Satcher\u2019s proposal received much support. Commissioner Vanessa Baugh said, \u201cI would give you two (votes) if I could!\u201d with Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge stating, \u201cI would support that as well.\u201d Commissioner Reggie Bellamy chimed in as well, stating, \u201cI think that\u2019s unanimous!\u201d However, with time and pressure, Commissioner Bellamy appears to have changed his position, possibly as a result of local political influence.<\/p>\n

The protest outside, which drew a little less than 40 abortion advocates from Manatee County and beyond, were loud as they came together to stand against the possibility of Manatee County\u2019s Board of Commissioners passing an ordinance outlawing abortion within Manatee County. The group even publicly berated<\/a> a Director with Right To Life of East Texas who was present for the meeting. Democratic State Representative Michelle Rayner, who attended the rally<\/a>, criticized the ban, \u201cI don\u2019t even know if they were to vote and pass this ban if it would cut legal muster, because I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s something that could actually happen on a county level.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Photo: Mark Lee Dickson<\/p><\/div>\n

Tracy Pratt, chair of the Manatee County Democratic Party, spoke during public comment discouraging commissioners from moving forward with any pro-life initiative stating<\/a>, \u201cDemocrats support the right of women to make their own reproductive decisions, and therefore recognize government interference with these personal decisions as oppression of women.\u201d Pratt described the proposal as one which would \u201cfinancially incentivize women to have babies, presumably with taxpayer funds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Commissioner Satcher stated, \u201cThere is an idea in our country that Democrats cannot be against abortion and that is just not true.\u201d While many democrats do identify as pro-choice, not all democrats are against abortion bans.<\/p>\n

Kristen Day of Democrats for Life of America took issue with Pratt\u2019s statements. \u201cChairwoman Tracy does not speak for all Democrats. One out of every 3 Democrats support reasonable regulation of and limits on abortion.\u201d Day continued, \u201cWe support the county’s right to protect preborn life and we urge all pro-life Democrats to support similar initiatives to protect life and truly empower women. We urge the Chairwoman to look for ways to work with pro-life people to truly support pregnant women, whether with federal, state, or local government funding, or the laudable efforts of civil society and especially pregnancy clinics. The violence of abortion is neither empowering nor just.\u201d<\/p>\n