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2023 suicide prevention proclamationsLeague accepts Suicide Prevention proclamations
Led by our Gun Violence Prevention team, the League requested and is accepting proclamations from 30 cities plus Broward County. The collage pictures only a handful of those ceremonies, designed to raise awareness and educate. 

At least 19 volunteers attended meetings to accept these proclamations: Monica Elliott, Denise Elliott, Deborah Davis, Peggy Thomas, Barbara Markley, Linda Thompson Gonzalez, Linda Bloomfield, Agustina Sklar, Pearl Osilaja, Franklyn McKenzie, Joette Alongi, Rachel Solomon, Pam Militello, Bradette Jepsen, Katy Syed, Bethann Nativ, Carol Smith and Patti Lynn.


League raises awareness


The League of Women Voters of Broward County is busy this month spreading the word during National Suicide Prevention Month. This annual campaign in the United States informs and engages people about suicide prevention and warning signs of suicide. 

There were also two key events featuring panels of experts discussing  how to identify red flags for suicidal thoughts and depression as well as the community resources available. 

Here's a video of the program: 

Suicide Prevention Awareness webinar

Slideshow
Gun Safety in the Community Happy Hour


Monica Elliott, Co-President LWVBC and Voters Services Chair, LWVBC & LWVFL, presented a talk Sept. 13 on about the 
new election laws, which have been passed in each of the last three Florida legislative sessions. With each law, restrictions have been placed on 3rd Party Voter Registration Organizations such as the League of Women Voters of Florida. Watch the video.




Request your Vote By Mail now and tell everyone else to do it too

Vote-By-Mail request is going to be an on-going topic for the next year. Even if you have heard or read this already, please do so again! Please spread the word!

First, all vote-by-mail (VBM) requests made for the 2022 election are NO longer valid. Voters don’t seem to realize this yet, so it will be a shock when it is time for the presidential preference primary (March 19, 2024) when VBM ballot packets don’t show up in voters' mailboxes.

Worse, when the voter does realize the problem and contacts the Broward County Supervisor of Election’s (SOE) office, it will put an extra burden on the SOE in the month before the election.

You and your friends, family, colleagues, exercise buddies, etc. should request your VBM ballots NOW! You can do this online at browardvotes.gov, our SOE's website.  


 
A few helpful hints when you complete the VBM request online:
  • You will need your current Florida driver license or Florida identification number or the last four digits of your social security number.
  • You will need to provide an email address.
  • On the screen that asks for your address, note it is asking for the house or building number for your residence and NOT the street number. For example, if your address is 17034 SW 209th Court, input “17034” and not “209.”
  • You can request a Vote-By-Mail ballot for all three elections in 2024 or for a specific election.
  • If you will be living outside of Broward County temporarily for a specific election, you can request to have the ballot for just that election be sent to your temporary address. For example, if you will be living “up north” for the August 2024 election, you can request that your Vote-By-Mail ballot be sent to that address just for the August 2024 election.
  • Take a screen shot with your computer or your phone of the last screen confirming you have been successful in requesting a VBM ballot.
Don’t want to do it online? Just call the Broward SOE office at (954) 357-7055.

Sign the Abortion Rights Petition


The coalition “Floridians Protecting Freedom” has launched a citizen-led ballot initiative campaign to give women the right to seek abortions up to viability. The goal is to insert an amendment into the Florida Constitution that explicitly blocks the implementation of laws that prohibit, delay, or restrict abortion access. 
 
The League of Women Voters of Florida Board of Directors has voted to support this effort. The decision of whether or not to have an abortion belongs to Floridians, their families, and those they trust, and this campaign is an opportunity to further enshrine those protections in our state constitution. Our League's Women’s Rights and Reproductive Freedom Committee is actively involved in the Petition Drive to get a constitutional amendment to the Florida Constitution explicitly protecting the right to abortion.  

What you can do:


The first step is to put an amendment question on the November 2024 ballot, which requires almost 900,000 valid petitions.


If you are registered to vote in Florida, please download, print, complete, and mail your own petition form: floridiansprotectingfreedom.com/petition/
 
Share this information with your friends, family, social networks, co-workers, and every Florida voter who cares about our rights. Be proactive! Don’t wait for someone to ask you to sign or collect your signed form. You can mail your completed form to the address shown on the petition. We don't have much time to collect 900,000 petitions, so act now!
 
Each petition will be scrutinized carefully before being counted.

Hints for completing the petition correctly: The form requests your LAST name first, then your first and middle name. Input all three names. You can input your voter registration number OR date of birth. When signing the form, use the signature you would use for voting -- whether in-person or voting by mail. If you don't know how you sign when voting, use the signature on your Florida driver license or Florida identification card. Include the date when you sign the form.


women
Photo by Molly White via WikiMedia

Ballot Title: 
Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion

 
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.

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Fearless Women: Feminist Patriots from Abigail Adams to Beyoncé

Next meeting: Friday, Oct. 13, 2023, 11 a.m.


fearless women edit


Fearless Women 
by Elizabeth Cobbs 
tells the story of women who dared to take destiny into their own hands. They were feminists and antifeminists, activists and homemakers, victims of abuse and pathbreaking professionals. Inspired by the nation’s ideals and fueled by an unshakeable sense of right and wrong, they wouldn’t take no for an answer. In time, they carried the country with them.


When America became a nation, a woman had no legal existence beyond her husband. If he abused her, she couldn’t leave without abandoning her children. Abigail Adams tried to change this, reminding her husband John to “remember the ladies” when he wrote the Constitution. He simply laughed—and women have been fighting for their rights ever since.


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Get a good deal on rooftop solar with new solar co-op forming

Learn about solar energy, and how the nonprofit co-op model simplifies the process of going solar on your home or small business. The co-op will take you through the technology, economics, financing, and more.

The League is a sponsor and supporter of the solar co-op and some Broward members have purchased solar panels through previous rounds of the coop.


Upcoming events:

Florida Solar 101
Virtual
Oct. 24 at 6 p.m.

Florida Solar 101
In-person
Southwest Regional Library
Nov. 8 at 6 p.m.

More information at the the co-op website:  SolarUnitedNeighbors.org/Broward





Book discussion: Just Action 


Richard Rothstein, author of the New York Times bestseller The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America, revisits the issue of residential segregation created by multiple levels of the government in his new book, Just Action: How to Challenge Segregation Enacted under the Color of Law.

Co-authored with his daughter Leah Rothstein, a housing policy expert, they offer hope and practical solutions for local community groups to begin to redress inequities and challenge segregation.

Join the discussion in person or on Zoom on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023, at 7 p.m.

In person: Fellowship Halls 1&2, Christ Church, 4845 NE 25th Ave., Fort Lauderdale.

The program is being presented by Christ Church.

Register