FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 26, 2012

CONTACT:
Medea Benjamin, medea@codepink.org
Alli McCracken, alli@codepink.org
Twitter: @codepink

WHAT: CODEPINK Protest at Faith & Freedom Coalition VIP Luncheon
WHEN: 11:30 am, August 26, 2012
WHERE: Faith & Freedom Coalition Tampa Kick-Off Luncheon at The University Club of Tampa, 201 N. Franklin Street, Tampa, FL 33602
VISUALS: Women in large vagina costumes, creative pink banners

Tampa, FL—  CODEPINK activists will demonstrate outside the Faith & Freedom Coalition Tampa Kick-Off Luncheon at the University Club of Tampa today, August 26th at 11:30 am. Women are concerned about Faith & Freedom Coalition's overzealous support of measures that strip women of their reproductive rights and their use of religious rhetoric to unconstitutionally blur the boundary between church and state.

“We are here protesting today because Ralph Reed and the Faith and Freedom Coalition are threatening women's rights, pushing for inequality and lack of access to essential reproductive healthcare,” said Alli McCracken, CODEPINK national organizer. “This group endangers the lives of women, and women are taking to the streets to speak out against the religious right's war on women.”

In a one-on-one meeting with Congressman Akin last week at the Council For National Policy (CNP) conference in Tampa, Ralph Reed expressed his confidence in Akin's run for Senate, describing him as a man “of faith.”  “Supporting a man who says women's bodies can decide whether to get pregnant after experiencing rape is despicable,” said Rae Abileah, CODEPINK co-director.  “My mom and her generation of activists worked too hard to ensure my reproductive rights for me to accept this without a protest.”  Faith and Freedom's rally today will also feature Mike Huckabee, who continues to support Akin's delusional understanding of pregnancy and rape.  

CODEPINK cofounders Medea Benjamin and Jodie Evans, and activists from around the country and Tampa locals, are available for interview during the RNC week.  Please contact Alli McCracken at 860-575-5692 or alli[at]codepink.org to set up an interview.

For the latest photos of CODEPINK at the RNC protests see: www.codepink.org/rncphotos
See videos here: www.codepink.org/rncvideos
Follow @codepink for the latest updates from the streets.

CODEPINK, founded in 2002, is a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end the war in Iraq, stop new wars, and redirect our resources into health care, education and other life-affirming activities. www.codepink.org