With abortion on the ballot in Florida this November, Students for Life of America (SFLA) is laser-focused on informing Floridians, including rallying, mobilizing, door-knocking, tabling, campus conversations, and attending coalition meetings. Kristan Hawkins visited Miami, along with our brand-new billboard truck, and we protested President Joe Biden in Tampa. 

From now until November, we’re all hands-on deck, ensuring Floridians not only vote pro-life first but also “Vote no on Amendment 4” in the ballot box. We’ve been busy.  

Education Through Door Knocking 

SFLA had our first primary deployment in Leesburg, Florida, on Saturday, April 13. We had eight volunteers and 10 people total door-knock for House candidate and Leesburg native Micheal Levine. Levine is one of the few politicians who returned our survey to SFLA and fully supported our legislation. Many residents either know Levine from the community, heard of him, or were willing to do research because of our door-knocking efforts.  

We knocked on over 800 doors, had 138 conversations, had 45 activations from the residents, and changed 13 minds about the abortion issue.  

Cemetery of the Innocents Vandalism 

Two days later, we kicked off our “Vote no on Amendment 4” Florida billboard truck tour at the University of Florida (UF) in Gainesville, Florida, with UF Students for Life. We displayed a Cemetery of the Innocents on the Lawn of the Plaza of America with 1,726 wooden crosses. Each cross represents one life lost due to abortion every day by Planned Parenthood worldwide. 

LEARN MORE: This Is Chemical Abortion | Stop Chemical Abortion  

We had a Gainesville news interview about us and our display, which can be viewed below. Go, Gators!  

WATCH HERE 

Moments later, students vandalized numerous crosses. When confronted by Florida Regional Coordinator Kristen Wayne and other students, the vandal said, “I got what he wanted out of this: free dopamine.” When Wayne told the student we had a permit and will press vandalism charges, he responded, saying, “Oh yeah, of course I never said you can’t be here. I just felt like stomping on the crosses.”  

READ MORE: Smashing and Trashing in the Sunshine State: Cemetery of the Innocents Gets Vandalized, But that Won’t Stop the Pro-Life Generation from Reaching the Youth 

There is an open police report with SFLA and the University of Florida. 

Students for Life Brings Out the Billboard Truck 

The following day, the “Vote No on Amendment 4” Florida billboard truck tour went south to Florida International University (FIU) in Miami. Our Southeast Campus Formation Coordinator, Mary-Logan Miske, also displayed a Cemetery of the Innocents behind our table. 

SFLA President Kristan Hawkins joined us for her “No Abortions, No Exceptions” tour stop in Miami all day and attended all our events, including the tabling and our activist briefing in front of Planned Parenthood. NBC Miami was curious about our activities, and we were able to speak to them, furthering our pro-life message even more, and news interviews continued throughout the day.  

WATCH HERE 

READ MORE: Students for Life of America in Florida Again to Launch BRAND NEW VIDEO BILLBOARD TRUCK to Push Back Against Radical Pro-Abortion Ballot Initiative in November – Unlimited Abortion Up for a Vote

Hawkins returned to FIU with the guest speakers from the briefing, SFLA staff, and FIU students for her “No Abortions, No Exceptions” speech and Q&A. Over 100 people came to her event, where former abortionist Dr. John Bruchalski also spoke. Students from FIU and Florida Atlantic University (FAU), guest speakers from the briefing earlier, parents of students, and faculty on campus all came to hear Kristan’s and Bruchalski’s empowering speeches.  

At the end of the Q&A, a post-abortive father told his story. Last month, his ex-girlfriend got an abortion, and his baby girl “Clementine,” perished. There was not a dry eye in the room. The father and his friend drove three hours to hear Kristan speak that night.  

CHECK OUT: Standing With You 

Hawkins and the SFLA staff were so touched by his story that we recorded a last-minute podcast interview with him. So be on the lookout!  

More Door Knocking, And Then… 

The next day, Kristen Wayne, Strategic Partnerships Advisor Andy Secola, and the “Vote No on Amendment 4” Florida billboard tour expanded and finished their tour in Tampa, Florida. Knocking on 168 doors, Wayne and Secola let Florida residents in the area know about the harmful ballot initiative. If passed, it will enshrine abortion in our state constitution. The two encouraged the residents to vote no on Amendment 4 this November.  

Secola noted, “Regardless of whether you are pro-life or pro-choice, having abortion in our state constitution up to the point of birth is wrong. And the majority of Florida voters don’t want that. We encourage you to vote no on amendment four this November.”  

38 Conversations on Campus 

On the last day of the tour, Wayne was excited to host a Cemetery of the Innocents display at her alma mater University of South Florida along with USF Students for life on campus, where she was interviewed by two news stations.  

Though the “Students for a Democratic Society” rallied and processed around campus, it brought a crowd and allowed 38 conversations on abortion. To celebrate a job well done, USF Students for Life watched “Unplanned.” 

A few days later after the tour ended, Wayne spoke on behalf of SFLAction at a grass-roots coalition with “Floridian’s Against Extremism” with their “Vote No on 4” campaign.  

Playing “Where’s Waldo?” With Biden 

Our last adventure was playing a real-life game of “Where’s Waldo?” by trying to locate Biden’s speech in Tampa. We managed to find it the day of, rallied 30 students, and spoke with the media about why we’re against Biden’s abortion extremism. His shuttle passed our billboard truck, so we hope he got the message.  

READ: Biden Makes Surprise Visit to Tampa, Florida, Pushing for Abortion Extremism & “Boldly” Hiding the Event Location — SFL Action (studentsforlifeaction.org) 

“I think the vital part they are leaving out is that there is someone else involved,” Secola told WFLA. “They’re looking at two patients with abortion, they are ignoring the child as a patient.” 

This is only what we were up to in April. We have so much more in store until November. When we’re done, Floridians will know the truth about Amendment 4. 

Unfortunately, abortion will be on the ballot this November. However, our 15-week bill immediately goes into effect, and on May 1, our six-week bill becomes law. A big thank you to Florida Go. Ron DeSantis for signing it bill last April and inviting SFLA to stand alongside you. Thousands of lives will be saved because of that legislation.  

Our work is far from over. It’s only just the beginning.   

For now, until November, we will be jammed packed with events. Life literally depends on it. If we start now, not only can we keep Florida pro-life, but we will also be one step closer to making abortion unthinkable and unavailable in our lifetime. 

Florida Regional Coordinator Kristen Wayne contributed to this report.

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