Lake NOW protests Rep. Sullivan
EUSTIS — Members of Lake NOW waved signs Friday outside the district office of state Rep. Jennifer Sullivan to protest her views on abortion on the 43rd anniversary of the landmark Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the U.S.
About 20 men and women crowded outside of Sullivan’s office on Bay Street just north of U.S. Highway 441 holding signs including “Sullivan too young to know,” and “Roe Roe Roe your vote.” Sullivan is 24.
“We’re very proud that we’ve had choice for 43 years and we want to keep it way,” Lake NOW president Lucinda McGinn said. “They shouldn’t have to go somewhere … people who make a decision to have an abortion have made a decision to have an abortion.”
Cars flew by the busy
street and greeted the protesters with honks of their horns, and some shouted support from their vehicles. Protesters cheered in response. Florida lawmakers last year passed legislation Sullivan sponsored to require a 24-hour waiting period before women can have abortions. Gov. Rick Scott signed the bill into law.
“Women get very, very ill from this — women die from this,” said Cara Luchsinger, a retired nurse. “A woman who has decided to have an abortion has thought it through already. I may not like abortion myself, but I don’t want to restrict somebody whose beliefs are different than mine.”
Luchsinger was there as a member of the Democratic Women’s Club of Lake County. McGinn, 58, said Lake NOW has 69 active members. Members of the Golden Triangle Democratic Club joined in the protest. Sullivan’s office was empty this afternoon, and she couldn’t be reached for comment. Sullivan, who was elected in 2014, said when Scott signed the bill that it “will empower women across our state to make an informed decision on this life-changing procedure.”
Florida’s and other state legislatures “continue to chip away at safe and legal abortion access…,” according to a news release from the local National Organization for Women chapter.