Danielle Tallafuss spoke through tears Saturday afternoon as she recounted to hundreds of people the difficult decision to have an abortion.
The Oviedo resident had been counting down the days in 2020 until the birth of her son, Nathaniel. Then a scan around week 20 of her pregnancy revealed he had a genetic defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome.
The condition would require three open heart surgeries within his first two years of life — with no guarantee her son would survive. Tallafuss had another child at home, as well. She didn’t want to split her time between him and a baby in the hospital, she said from the stage of Lake Eola Park’s Walt Disney Amphitheater.
“It was a decision we made out of love, compassion and doing what was best not just for the son we already had at home, but for Nathaniel, who would have had to suffer through treatments that most adults wouldn’t be able to handle before he could even take his first steps,” she said.
As she spoke, coordinated chants of “Abortion is murder” were heard from counter-protesters behind a nearby barricade. Some held signs bearing graphic pictures of aborted fetuses. Others dropped to their knees in prayer, holding rosaries toward the sky.
The event marked the official kickoff of the Yes On 4 campaign — an effort to enshrine the right to abortion in Florida’s Constitution and undo current restrictions if 60% of voters approve in November’s election. The changes would then go into effect in January.
Florida currently has a 15-week abortion ban with a 6-week ban taking effect May 1 — with exceptions for fatal fetal abnormalities and the life of the mother. It also allows victims of rape, incest and human trafficking to get abortions up to 15 weeks if the woman provides evidence — such as a restraining order, police report or medical records. The law is predicted to dramatically reduce abortions in the Southeast and send thousands North to terminate pregnancies.
Around 1,000 people supporting the amendment gathered at Lake Eola to hear speeches from patients, providers and leaders of abortion groups. Attendees were asked not to bring partisan signs, coat hangers or violent imagery and instead focus on the message of removing government interference from abortion.
“When we make medical decisions, we do not contact our local representatives and ask for advice,” said Sarah Parker, executive director of the Voices of Florida fund. “We can make an educated, informed decision with the help and care from our health care provider, not the Senate and not the House.”
About 40 counter-protesters attended. Event leaders warned attendees from stage not to fight with them and the event stayed peaceful.
“I don’t believe that we should have abortion at any point,” said Belinda Ford, who came to protest against the amendment and is against abortion regardless of circumstance — though disagrees with criminalizing doctors and women who obtain them.
She said she’s has opened multiple crisis pregnancy centers in the area: “I’m a Christian. I believe that God is in control of all things.”
The proposed amendment, in part, states: “No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.”
Viability — when a baby can survive outside the womb — has long been placed by scientists and the medical community at about 24 weeks, near the end of the second trimester.
Most babies born before this time can’t survive because lungs and other vital organs are not developed enough to live. If a baby is born alive, state law requires doctors to transport it to a hospital and provide medical care.
“Trust me when I say there is no medical reason for abortion bans and there is no medical reason for the government to be forcing their way into our exam rooms and standing between me and my patients,” said Dr. Marian Sampson, an OB/GYN with Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida.
Apopka resident Paula Pitino said she doesn’t agree abortion falls into the same category as other medical procedures.
“Abortion’s not health care,” said Pitino, whose Christian faith motivated her to come to the rally and pray for everyone backing the amendment. She believes life begins at conception and opposes all abortions as well as in vitro fertilization.
She added that she’s willing to talk with those who support the amendment about their views.
“I’m open to have conversations with these people but they don’t have conversations, they just shut you right down,” Pitino said.
On Thursday, a survey of 1,000 registered Florida voters by Emerson College found 42% plan to vote in favor of the amendment, 32% are undecided and 25% will vote against it.
Though other states have successfully passed abortion ballot initiatives, none have had to meet the state’s 60% threshold.
Florida’s Supreme Court ruled in 1989 that the state Constitution protects abortion due to its privacy clause. However, the high court’s current lineup overruled that precedent April 1 when it ruled 6-1 that the privacy clause does not protect abortion.
Ccatherman@orlandosentinel.com; @CECatherman Twitter
