'We're ready to tackle the issue': What inspired a 16-year-old Rockledge girl to plan a reproductive rights protest?
While Josephine Griffith has been involved in protests before, the overturning of Roe v. Wade inspired her to do something she's never done before: plan a protest on her own.
The 16-year-old Rockledge High School student is planning an abortions rights march Saturday evening, with speakers scheduled to speak at Cocoa Riverfront Park in Cocoa Village and a march to follow at Cocoa Boulevard and King Street.
"It's not the older people that are going to be affected by this for decades and decades. It's us, now," Josephine said. "That's affecting us directly right now."
Josephine's plans come in the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling that overturned the 1973 high court decision enshrining the right to abortion. Since June 24, the procedure has been banned in nine states and is likely to be banned or limited in more
July 8, President Joe Biden signed an executive order laying out how his administration would protect and expand access to abortion care. The order tasked the Department of Health and Human Services with expanding access to reproductive health services.
Following the Supreme Court ruling, Justice Clarence Thomas invited challenges to other rulings that legalized gay marriage and provided access to contraceptives, raising concerns among some that other rulings may soon be overturned.
"We're passionate and we're angry, and instead of going to unhealthy ways to cope, we're actually doing something about it," Josephine said. "We're not just sitting around and complaining. We're tired and we're ready to go and fight and stay consistent and actually do something."
Why does a 16-year-old care?
Josephine grew up in Orlando, where she was involved with Orlando Occupy Now and Orlando Light Brigade. Now, at 16, she is too young to vote.
Protesting is a way for her and other youth to have a voice in something she feels will affect young generations, she said.
"Everyone's just really, really fed up with it," she said. "I guess one thing the older generations (could) understand and think back to, if they were there ... (almost) 50 years ago when Roe v. Wade was put in place, it's that same feeling again. It's like we're getting our rights taken away."
She added that the frustration and anger comes "especially since it's already been in place and then got removed."
"We have connected more as a generation, and we're ready to go tackle the issue," she said.
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Josephine isn't the first young person in Brevard to plan a protest in the past month.
On Independence Day, Addisyn Mayer, 9, Jacob Gelman, 18, and Chelsea Partridge, 29, worked together to hold a protest at the Viera courthouse in response to Roe v. Wade being overturned and other state laws, such as Florida's Parental Rights in Education law, known as the "Don't Say Gay" law by critics.
Joined by Space Coast Pride and Colectiva Queer — both local groups serving the LGBTQ community — the three led protestors in sign waving and speeches.
Josephine was one of the speakers at the event.
Partridge said multiple young people reached out to her about getting involved in activism during and after the July 4th protest. She's given Josephine advice on how to plan Saturday's event and is excited to see young people showing interest in activism.
"It's incredible that these young people are seeing what's going on in the world, and seeing their rights being taken away, and they've decided to stand up and fight for it," she said.
Fara Megargee of Brevard Democrats, who has also given advice to Griffith about how to plan the protest, said she's seen an uptick in youth involvement in activism over the past year.
She attributes this to school shootings, restrictions on what's legally allowed to be taught in classrooms and the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
"With the SCOTUS decision, that really seemed to be the boiling point for younger people to start getting involved and paying attention," she said. "They're seeing all this stuff happening, one thing after another, people's rights being taken away."
Josephine said she's been involved in multiple types of activism, including educating through social media and donating to those in need. She said she feels protesting is harder to ignore.
"Anyone can ignore their phone, anyone can ignore pamphlets or anything like that. But when there's a group of people actually going and getting together and fighting for the same thing, I think that just hits harder," she said.
Partridge said she wants youth to keep fighting, even if it takes a while to see change.
"I think disillusionment is the intent of these laws," she said. "I wouldn't give up hope, but I wouldn't also just sit down and expect things to magically change, because they won't change unless we make that change happen."
Join the protest
What: Abortions rights speakers and march
When: The protest begins at 5:30 p.m. Saturday and is scheduled to last until 8 p.m.
Where: Cocoa Riverfront Park in Cocoa Village and a march to follow at Cocoa Boulevard and King Street
Finch Walker is a Breaking News Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at 321-290-4744 or fwalker@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @_finchwalker
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Reproductive rights protest planned for Saturday by 16-year-old Rockledge girl
