Abortion rally draws over 1,000 to Orlando for Yes On 4 kickoff

[In It to Win It]

Orlando Sentinel - Gift Link

Danielle Tallafuss spoke through tears Saturday afternoon as she recounted to hundreds of people the difficult decision to have an abortion.

The Oviedo resident had been counting down the days in 2020 until the birth of her son, Nathaniel. Then a scan around week 20 of her pregnancy revealed he had a genetic defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome.

The condition would require three open heart surgeries within his first two years of life — with no guarantee her son would survive. Tallafuss had another child at home, as well. She didn’t want to split her time between him and a baby in the hospital, she said from the stage of Lake Eola Park’s Walt Disney Amphitheater.

“It was a decision we made out of love, compassion and doing what was best not just for the son we already had at home, but for Nathaniel, who would have had to suffer through treatments that most adults wouldn’t be able to handle before he could even take his first steps,” she said.

As she spoke, coordinated chants of “Abortion is murder” were heard from counter-protesters behind a nearby barricade. Some held signs bearing graphic pictures of aborted fetuses. Others dropped to their knees in prayer, holding rosaries toward the sky.

The event marked the official kickoff of the Yes On 4 campaign — an effort to enshrine the right to abortion in Florida’s Constitution and undo current restrictions if 60% of voters approve in November’s election. The changes would then go into effect in January.