1989 10-10 Tallahassee Pro life Rally (3 of 4) Pro-abort Counter March

http://abortionmatrix.com This is the pro-abortion counter-march on the second day. Cornering Political Leaders In Tallahassee No Easy Task Special session: Abortion October 10, 1989|By Adam Yeomans, Sentinel Tallahassee Bureau TALLAHASSEE — Kim Bailey, her mother and a friend left Orlando at 4:30 a.m. Monday for the Capitol, hoping to let lawmakers know how they feel about abortion. However, getting to talk to someone in power was no easy task. Bailey, her mother Clara Hutchinson, 55, and friend Nancy Chritzer, 29, first tried to see Sen. George Stuart, the pro-choice Orlando Democrat who is seeking his party's nomination for governor. Stuart was not available. Then the Orlando group headed for the office of Gov. Bob Martinez, the Republican whose decision to call lawmakers to Tallahassee to add restrictions to Florida's abortion law set the stage for this week's session. Martinez was too busy, Bailey was told, but a secretary did give the women a yellow legal pad on which they could scribble a message to the governor. ''Wow! What does someone have to do to see somebody around here?'' Bailey asked as she sat in the governor's office. ''You always think you have a chance to do something,'' said Bailey, 29, who attends Par Street Church of Christ in Orlando. ''We thought this is something we could do.' As the day passed, more and more buses pulled up near the Capitol, unloading dozens of activists determined to make their feelings known to Florida's 160 legislators. Many were affiliated with church groups. The Baptists tended to wear green shirts while the Roman Catholics and other religious groups settled for red and white. Some were unsure exactly what legislation was being proposed. They just knew they wanted the lawmakers to debate the abortion issue. ''I hope we at least get the ball rolling and let the Legislature know where we stand,'' said Sam Lewis, 36, who organized a group of 45 members from the First Baptist Church of Oviedo. ''It's a battle we're going to win.'' Monday the streets around the Capitol appeared to belong primarily to the anti-abortion groups. They carried signs saying ''Stop Abortion'' and ''Choose Life,'' as they gathered for Monday night's march to the Capitol. The pro-choice activists have planned their major rally and march for today. They were content Monday night to hold a fund-raiser that drew more than 100 supporters. Nancy Freeman of Winter Springs and Penny Moorefield of Pine Hills said they had traveled to Tallahassee to make sure legislators knew how many people felt about abortion. Both women are volunteer counselors for the Pro-Life Center in Orlando. ''I came just to be a live body for pro-life,'' said Freeman, 40, who brought her 10-year-old daughter for the Monday night march. Outside the Capitol, Ed and Eileen Mikulas of Melbourne and their three children held a large anti-abortion banner and waved U.S. flags at passing drivers. Most cars whizzed by silently. However, some drivers honked their horns in support, while a few held out their fists, thumbs down or screamed, ''Pro-choice.'' ''My husband and I have been fighting this fight since the 1960s, before Roe versus Wade,'' Eileen Mikulas said, referring to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1973 that allowed states to legalize abortion. ''There are some things you have to fight for. That's what we're here for today, to stand up and be counted.'' By late afternoon many of the anti-abortion activists were headed for the Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center, the rallying point for their march on the Capitol where Martinez was to address the crowd. Security was tight throughout Tallahassee.