Gov. Ron DeSantis is drawing distinctions between himself and Nikki Haley on abortion, in the former South Carolina Governor’s home state where he trails her in polls.
During a NC/SC Federation of Republican Women Presidential Forum event held at Winthrop College Thursday, DeSantis took issue with Haley contending that women shouldn’t be jailed for abortions, saying it’s just a fake narrative and that no one has ever suggested such punishment.
“Well, look, I mean, of course, you’re not going to jail. No pro-lifer has ever argued for that,” DeSantis said. “So when she’s saying that she’s indulging media narratives, that’s a narrative. That’s not how it is.”
DeSantis accused Haley of playing into “some of the stereotypes that the left uses against conservatives” and indulging the “media narrative” with that assertion.
Earlier this summer, in a seeming reference to Florida’s recently passed Heartbeat Protection Act (SB 300), which bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy under most circumstances, Haley urged national “consensus that no state law should put a woman in jail or give her the death penalty for having an abortion.”
While no one has contended that Florida’s new abortion law would impose capital punishment on women or girls who terminate pregnancies, DeSantis has been confronted by interpretations of Florida’s law that suggests it’s intended to penalize women who undergo the procedure.
Back in September, after a network news interview, the DeSantis War Room posted a clip of the moment from his sit-down with CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell that aired Wednesday night: “WATCH: @RonDeSantis shut downs (sic) CBS’ Norah O’Donnell pushing a manufactured narrative about Florida’s Heartbeat law.”
The reality, of course, was more complex than the triumphalist social media post on X.
O’Donnell quotes the line in the legislation (SB 300) that says that it will be a felony of the third degree for “any person who willfully performs or actively participates in a termination of pregnancy.” Some states have taken that to mean anyone who helps a pregnant woman seeking an abortion, even relatives.
“The penalties are for the physician,” DeSantis said.
O’Donnell followed up: “The woman is not actively participating in the termination of a pregnancy?”
DeSantis replies, “No, because she’s not a medical practitioner.”
At the time, Democrats rejected DeSantis’ spin on the legislation, which is still held up in court.
Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said the law is not what DeSantis promises — it’s the words in the law. And the words in this law open the door for the prosecution of those who end their own pregnancies.
It “will be interpreted by courts that he helped stack with extremist Federalist Society Justices,” Fried said in a written statement, identifying a group that has promulgated rolling back abortion rights.
Laura Goodhue, Executive Director of the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, said even though the law doesn’t explicitly call for prosecuting those who seek an abortion past the six-week point in pregnancy — before most know they are pregnant — it’s already created a dangerous climate for those seeking care.
“Ron DeSantis may try to pull the wool over voters’ eyes, but Floridians know that he’ll stop at nothing to ban abortion and punish the people who have them,” Goodhue said in a written statement.
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Florida Politics writer Anne Geggis contributed reporting.
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