Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a restrictive abortion law, but he doesn’t want to campaign nationally on it.
That’s the claim made by the New Hampshire Democratic Party, which wonders why the Florida firebrand refused to mention his late-night signing of the Heartbeat Protection Act, which bans termination of pregnancy after six weeks of gestation, a law framed by critics as a total abortion ban.
“Of course Ron DeSantis would try to hide his anti-choice agenda from Granite Staters after he signed his extreme ban behind closed doors and in the dark of night. While he tries to hide his record as he works to out-MAGA the field, he and the rest of the 2024 Republican contenders can count on being held accountable for their dangerous threats to women’s health care and personal freedom here in New Hampshire,” said NHDP spokesperson Aida Ross.
It’s not just New Hampshire audiences that are getting the silent treatment on the six-week abortion ban, however.
During a speech earlier Friday at Liberty University, an evangelical school in Lynchburg, Virginia, the Governor did not mention the freshly signed law, despite being at one of the most socially conservative colleges in the country and seemingly having a crowd that would be more receptive to the law than anywhere.
Likewise, the Governor did not mention the law in Ohio Thursday night, during remarks delivered just hours before he flew back to Tallahassee to sign it overnight.
The statement released from his office Thursday night offered a terse quote from DeSantis.
“We are proud to support life and family in the state of Florida. I applaud the Legislature for passing the Heartbeat Protection Act that expands pro-life protections and provides additional resources for young mothers and families.”
Though the Governor has signed one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country, his rhetoric has been something less than forceful, couched in passive voice construction.
“I’m willing to sign great life legislation. That’s what I’ve always said I would do,” DeSantis said last year, regarding a six-week ban.
Previously, the Governor said that he thought a ban after 15 weeks was “very reasonable.”
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