The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) have some thoughts on this. On Nov. 13th, MidPoint hosted Marissa Hilderbrand, a canvassing organizer for the Yes on Amendment 4 campaign with the DSA, and Jenna Sierra, a Board Member of the Tampa Bay Abortion Fund who also canvassed for Amendment 4 with the DSA. They explained that while the Yes on 4 campaign coalition promoted by Floridians Protecting Freedom focused their messaging on highlighting a woman’s right to privacy and her bodily integrity as the primary driver of their campaign seeking support for Amendment 4, the DSA focused their messaging on access to abortion as an economic and class issue that affects an entire family. They saw the access to abortion issue as one that affects women and men both. They explained that in the U. S., as a society that lacks economic support for women having children and lacks universal healthcare, affordable childcare, paid parental leave, and other support for childbearing women, the decision to have or not have a child is a significant economic decision and one that has even more serious consequences for all working-class voters.
In this election, many critics have commented that the Democrats failed to tailor their message to the economic concerns of the working class and that the results showed this to be a mistake. The DSA canvassers agree and for that reason, while they mostly supported the Democrats up and down the ballot, they tailored their message of support for Amendment 4 away from identity and gender politics, away from the issue of privacy, and toward explaining that the abortion issue was a class issue and one that should unite the working class. For the most part, they said their message was well received during their door-knocking campaign. Nevertheless, even though Amendment 4 received a greater percentage of Florida votes than Donald Trump, (57% to 56%), after the $17 million anti-Amendment 4 propaganda campaign by Governor DeSantis funded by Floridians’ tax dollars, the Amendment failed by not reaching the 60% threshold for passage.
Both guests agreed that this is not the end of the struggle for abortion access in Florida. They reminded our listeners that medication abortion is still legal and available in Florida for pregnancies before 6 weeks gestation. They suggested that people who supported Amendment 4 now turn their attention and their financial support to make recurring donations to the Tampa Bay Abortion Fund (tbafund.org) because women will still need help and support to obtain safe, legal abortions for pregnancies beyond the 6-week ban in Florida. That support will require assisting clients with expensive travel out of the Southeast which is now an “abortion desert.” And, they suggested that it is more important than ever for people to engage with each other in communities, offline, and in person, including communities like the Democratic Socialists in Pinellas (https://www.pinellasdsa.org/) or the DSA in Tampa (https://www.tampadsa.org/) who are working for healthcare, housing, and climate justice.
This episode of MidPoint is available for listening on demand here and in the WMNF app, and as a WMNF MIdPoint podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
