The Florida legislature has just passed, and Governor Ron DeSantis has signed into law, a 6-week abortion ban that is expected to take effect sometime this summer. This extreme abortion ban is against all our Unitarian Universalist principles. A ballot initiative to put an abortion protection amendment into the Florida constitution has been announced. Participating in the intensive, statewide effort to get signatures is something Unitarian Universalists can do. Link here for information, petition and ways to drop off petition. The goal: 900,000+ by December 2023.
Want to help 1U’s Little Free Library? Donate up to 5 of your favorite books that you want others to enjoy! Collection starts June 2nd in Gore Hall. Email lflsteward@orlandouu.org for more info!
An Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion petition drive was started last week.
Ballot Summary: 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. This amendment does not change the Legislature’s constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion.
The full text of the Proposed Amendment: Limiting government interference with abortion.— Except as provided in Article X, Section 22, 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.
To get more information, petitions and to learn where to drop off signed petitions near your home or business to to Floridians Protecting Freedom here.
Lake Eola amphitheater was filled with central Floridians supporting constitutional freedoms and dreams. Many groups spoke, and our local congressman, Maxwell Frost, supported the many groups in attendance for coming together for the upcoming challenges.
Sharing LOVE in the face of state-sanctioned hate was the focus of this powerful rally. Giving hope to many marginalized groups – Dreamers, LGBTQ+, union organizers, resistance advocates – as we were reminded that we are working together for a better and fairer community.
The “training” is in introduction to the program and it is 4 intent hours of learning about this multi-religion invitation to talking and listening about reproduction choices and experiences. 1U has two trainers ready to start a program in the fall. Now is the last time for signing up this church year. May 16 is the date. Link here to register or to learn more.
Worship Leaders: Rev. Margalie Belizaire / Judith Stein-Farrall / Aubrey Connely – Candelario / Linnea Nelson / Charles Connelly-Candelario / Charlotte Kendall / Wendy Derrow / Joan Nelson
Come meet, connect with and honor the Reverend Mary Augusta Safford.
Our Mary Safford Historical Marker
Our Spring Congregational Meeting truly made history on March 19, as we dedicated a heritage marker honoring the Rev. Mary Augusta Safford — leader in the fight for votes for women, Unitarian trailblazer, and early member of our church. Following a special reception, Orlando District 4 Commissioner Patty Sheehan spoke about the marker’s significance and the essential role of voting in our democracy. She then joined Rev. Margalie, guests, and 1U folks to unveil the marker and cheer our church’s long commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equality.
Commissioner Sheehan, who has represented our District 4 since 2000, is a trailblazer in her own right as Central Florida’s first openly gay elected official. Also representing the city were Jennifer Fritz-Hunter, Orlando’s historic preservation officer, and Kathleen Russell, the mayor’s special assistant for community collaboration. The event continued a Women’s History Month celebration that began March 7 with the unveiling of a sister marker at 37 N. Orange Ave. that honors Orlando as the birthplace of Florida’s Equal Suffrage Association in 1913. It also pays tribute to Safford as the association’s president.
Both Orlando markers are part of the National Votes for Women Trail, an initiative of the National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites, with funding from the William G. Pomeroy Foundation of Syracuse, New York. The Trail includes more than 200 markers across the nation as well as an online database containing more than 2,200 sites related to women’s suffrage (for more information, click here).
The Rev. Safford led women’s suffrage efforts in Florida for most of the decade before the passage of the 19th amendment in 1920. She also led the suffrage movement in Iowa. Her friend since childhood, the Rev. Eleanor Gordon, was our church’s founding minister. Both women, who were part of the famed Iowa Sisterhood, moved to Orlando because of their friendship with Caroline Groninger Gore, the wife of Orlando pioneer Mahlon Gore and the inspiration for Gore Hall’s name.
At the March 19 program, 1U member Joy Wallace Dickinson also talked about the marker’s use of the women’s suffrage colors of white, violet , and sunflower gold. You’ll find the Mary Safford marker on the Hampton Street side of the campus, near the sidewalk leading to Gore Hall and the Sanctuary. It’s a great reminder that our present has strong roots in the past.
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