Gov. Ron DeSantis signed off on a six-week abortion ban this past Legislative Session. But on Friday, he said what’s good for Florida won’t necessarily fly in the other 49 states.
“The idea that, you know, the Republicans are going to solve the issue federally, I’ve told people not to bet their chips on that,” DeSantis said at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics’ “Politics and Eggs” event.
DeSantis noted that he’d said previously “this is more of a bottom-up issue because I think that what flies in Iowa and Texas is not going to be the same as New England,” and that “you have to have societal agreement to even be in that conversation,” with “a lot of disagreement” prevailing currently.
The comments Friday were the Governor’s latest attempt to triangulate between pushing a restrictive abortion law in the Deep South and the reality that much of the country recoils from that kind of legislation.
“I support pro-life policies. I’ll be a pro-life President. But at the same time, you know, I’ve got to chart the course and be honest with people about, okay, how do you advance the ball like we did in Florida? And the way you do that is really bottom up,” the Governor said during an interview which aired in September on CBS Evening News.
DeSantis has suggested that a national abortion ban wouldn’t fly in various places, arguing that “liberal” New Hampshire, other states in New England, as well as New York and California, wouldn’t accept a national Heartbeat Protection Act. He has taken criticism from anti-abortion groups, including Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, for his stance.
But despite seeming pragmatism on the issue, the Governor has attacked former President Donald Trump for being outspoken on Florida’s “terrible” legislation.
During a September interview on the Doug Wagner Show, DeSantis derided Trump’s objection to strict abortion bans like Florida’s Heartbeat Protection Act as “very, very deadly” for the anti-abortion movement and a “gift” to reproductive rights advocates.
During an interview with Glenn Beck that also was posted last month, DeSantis warned that Trump’s assertion that Florida’s law is “terrible” would be “weaponized” by proponents of a 2024 constitutional amendment that would limit the Legislature’s ability to pass abortion acts.
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