For Immediate Release: April 6, 2023
Contact: Virginia Lucy, media@napawf.org
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Today, the St. Petersburg City Council approved a resolution supporting the rights of residents to make their own reproductive health decisions, including abortion care. The resolution passed by a vote of 6-2.
The resolution honors the reproductive health care rights of its residents and cites the dangerous restrictions Florida has passed, including HB 5 which was signed into law last year, criminalizing providing abortion care after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The resolution explicitly “condemns any action intended to abrogate the fundamental liberties of people and affirms its commitment to protecting the rights of residents to make all health care decisions, particularly reproductive health care decisions, including abortion care, for themselves.”
National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) Florida Organizing Manager, and St. Petersburg resident, May Thach, issued the following statement:
“Passage of this resolution is further evidence that the voices of St. Pete’s residents are being heard and honored. This crucial decision pushes back against the abortion restrictions we are seeing throughout Florida and instead prioritizes the needs, health, and autonomy of the people of St. Petersburg.
The Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community faces an arduous path to abortion care, including language barriers, cultural stigmas, and low rates of insurance coverage. The barriers can be even greater for those working frontline, low-wage jobs that make traveling to have an abortion even more difficult, if not impossible.
We have the power. It is through the strength of local grassroots organizing that we are able to celebrate the passage of this resolution and demonstrate to the rest of the state just what is possible when we join this fight together.
NAPAWF Florida is grateful to Council Member Richie Floyd, for introducing this critical resolution, and to Council Members Copley Gerdes, Brandi Gabbard, Lisset Hanewicz, Deborah Figgs-Sanders, and John Muhammad for voting in favor of protecting the rights of the people of St. Petersburg.”
To learn more about NAPAWF Florida’s work or to join in the fight, visit: https://www.napawf.org/chapters/florida
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The National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) is the only multi-issue, progressive, community organizing and policy advocacy organization for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women and girls in the U.S. NAPAWF’s mission is to build collective power so that all AAPI women and girls can have full agency over our lives, our families, and our communities.