Anti-Abortion Activism from St. Pete Councilman Corey Givens Jr. Turns Heads
ST. PETERSBURG — Corey Givens Jr. recently attended an anti-abortion demonstration in Downtown St. Petersburg. The St. Petersburg City Councilman promoted the June 21st event at which speakers provided updates “on the progress made since Roe v Wade was overturned in 2022.”
Givens wrote in a June 18th social media post “Join us this Saturday morning as we March for Life and stand for the unborn!” The Councilman appears to have hidden all six comments responding to the post. A June 21st post featuring video from the demonstration and captioned “March for Life!” can no longer be seen on his page.
This event has caused renewed attention to Givens’s history of anti-abortion views. He campaigned heavily against Richie Floyd’s 2023 proposal to fund the Tampa Bay Abortion Fund, which pays local women’s travel expenses when they have to go out of state for abortions following Florida’s restrictive and unconstitutional abortion ban.
Givens stood with Republicans Scott Mahurin, Mike Beltran, and Berny Jacques at an April 2023 press conference where Jacques described the three as “local pro-life activists.” Jacques said they were “urging the St. Pete City Council to reject a proposal that would have used taxpayer funds for out of state abortion travel.”
Givens wrote in a social media post that year “they want to use tax payer dollars to cover the out-of-state travel expenses for those seeking abortions. This is immoral, unethical & ILLEGAL! 😡”
More recently, Givens has repeatedly gotten into fierce debates with abortion advocates online. In response to a local OBGYN who questioned his priorities, Givens wrote “You get paid to kill babies. We are NOT the same. I have a moral compass and you don’t. Don’t you have abortions to perform?”
To a local reproductive rights advocate, Givens wrote “You need to be Baker Acted FOREVER!”
In addition to the recent anti-abortion demonstration on the morning of June 21st, Givens also promoted an afternoon event the same day hosted by The Next STEPP Center to “Sing for Life.” Givens has served on the Board of Directors for The Next STEPP Center, a controversial crisis pregnancy center that has received city funding.
In another online post, Givens wrote “I personally donate thousands of my own dollars towards supporting Faith Based family resource centers where women have access to FREE healthcare, including well woman exams, contraceptives, and STI testing.” He appears to be referring to The Next STEPP Center, but much of this information is incorrect.
Next STEPP does not provide contraception, nor do they provide well woman exams, only referrals. In fact, the only medical service Next STEPP appears to provide is ultrasounds, which feature an asterisk on their website. The small print: “Ultrasound scans are used to confirm the presence of a viable, uterine pregnancy. We do not use ultrasound to determine gender or diagnose abnormalities. Eligibility criteria apply.”
Although Next Step presents itself as a medical facility, its actual goal appears to be targeting women considering abortion or contraception and persuading them to go without. “We are a nonprofit Christian organization offering life-affirming solutions to women, men and families facing pregnancy or parenting,” said its CEO, Carole Alexander.