Ron DeSantis waffles on whether he wants national abortion ban

DeSantis Gowdy
'Fighting for life and protecting life really is a bottom up movement.'

Gov. Ron DeSantis has made moves in successive years to tighten Florida abortion prohibitions. Yet despite ultimately landing on a six-week abortion ban as right for Florida, the Governor declined a chance to state whether he would nationalize that prohibition.

During an appearance on “Fox News Tonight,” DeSantis said that after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, “there’s a role for both the federal (government) and states” to play going forward.

But without clearly laying out what that federal role may or may not be, he implied that states should primarily handle the issue.

“I think at the end of the day, fighting for life and protecting life really is a bottom up movement. I think we’ve been able to have great successes at the local level,” DeSantis told interviewer Trey Gowdy.

The Governor’s fear, now that he is running for President officially, is that Democrats could federalize abortion protections.

“I am concerned about a Democratic administration with a trifecta trying to nationalize abortion all the way up until birth,” DeSantis continued.

“That would be a violation of what states like Florida have done to protect life. It would be a violation of what states like Iowa have done to protect life. And I think that that would be an abuse of power for them to try to override every single pro-life protection in this country and allow abortion all the way up to the moment of birth, which 90% of Americans find to be truly horrific.”

The Governor seemed to accept that some liberal bastions will not offer severe restrictions on the procedure, thus creating abortion destination jurisdictions.

“I think that there’s just a practical reality that the country is divided on the issue. And so the question is, you know, how are you going to be able to save, you know, more lives?” DeSantis said.

“Some of this is a matter of strategy, some of it is a matter of, you know, what could you do to be able to advance the ball forward?” he added. “Clearly in California, you know, you are going to have very, very hostile views.”

The Governor went on to malign the Golden State further.

“They want to have abortion all the way up till birth. I think they actually allow it post birth if you can believe that, which I think is truly horrific.”

DeSantis signed Florida’s Heartbeat Protection Act in the dead of night after a campaign trip, and his rhetoric has shifted depending on the day since.

During a speech to the National Religious Broadcasters Convention, DeSantis promoted the “strongest pro-life bill that Florida has seen in its modern history” as “not harsh,” countering a critique from Donald Trump. The former President claims the Governor is “losing women voters like crazy” and “has a big problem with women voters” because the law was “too harsh.”

However, other crowds have gotten cursory mentions of Florida’s abortion law changes, and some (including in New Hampshire) have not heard about it at all.

“We have stood for life by enacting the heartbeat bill in the state of Florida,” was how DeSantis summed it up to the Utah Republican Convention, in remarks shortly after he signed the legislation late one night after returning to Tallahassee from a political trip.

“We recently signed the Heartbeat Bill to Protect Life,” DeSantis said at The Heritage Foundation’s 50th Anniversary Celebration.

A.G. Gancarski

A.G. Gancarski has written for FloridaPolitics.com since 2014. He is based in Northeast Florida. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter: @AGGancarski


9 comments

  • Communist Dan

    May 25, 2023 at 11:42 am

    I hope we get a national abortion ban.
    The Violent Revolution in another generation will be inevitable then, and we’ll put all these scum against the wall.

    See Nicolae Ceaușescu for historical reference.

  • PeterH

    May 25, 2023 at 11:43 am

    Without a doubt DeSantis and every Republican candidate would institute a nationwide abortion ban. Republicans have been pushing for the ban for decades.

    Republicans are America’s biggest problem!

    Vote all Republicans out of office.

    • B. Carmichael

      May 25, 2023 at 11:27 pm

      YESSSSS!!! Vote BLUE ALL the way!!! Republicans ONLY stand for HATE & ABOLISHING RIGHTS!!! Especially this FASCIST GOVERNOR!! Republicans REALLY need to take a hard look at what Republicans are ACTUALLY doing for the good of the American ppl, which is NOTHING! They are just scared little boys not wanting another group, possibly one they have ridiculed, to take “over” and treat them the way they treated those ppl!
      Another issue is basically trying to keep their base DUMBED DOWN by NOT educating but indoctrinating! If their base would only open a book……oh, that’s right……those are BANNED!!!

  • John

    May 25, 2023 at 11:52 am

    “ I am concerned about a Democratic administration with a trifecta trying to nationalize abortion all the way up until birth,”
    Come on Ron…NO ONE has ever promoted that idea…
    On the other hand, SIGNING a 6-week ban into law is what proves that you are an “extremist” not fit to lead America…

  • Dont Say FLA

    May 25, 2023 at 12:08 pm

    Whatever he says, it doesn’t matter. Casey wants a ban. Also, all three of Trump’s SCOTUS picks denied wanting to overturn Roe. Clearly GOP types just lie and lie and lie, saying whatever they think will work for getting them whatever it is they want (or in Rhonda’s case and the Clarence Thomas case, whatever the wife wants).

  • Michael K

    May 25, 2023 at 12:42 pm

    Coward. He refused to answer the question while running for Governor, and we see where he landed. We know he wants a total ban but is incapable of being honest.

  • meredith

    May 25, 2023 at 2:04 pm

    HOW THE F**K DO YOU HAVE AN ABORTION POST BIRTH??!!! Can someone PLEASE ANSWER THAT QUESTION FOR ME??!!!

    • Dont Say FLA

      May 26, 2023 at 9:40 am

      In some states you can put it in a box and hand it over to the local fire station personnel. What I want to know is why men can’t obtain a legal abortion, signing away all rights but also all obligations. If men got that, they’d be on equal ground with women and could then perhaps stop trying to control women’s bodies. At that point the only reason left for controlling women’s bodies is for guys like Ron DeSantis to see if the wife’s baby somehow comes out black.

  • Lynda

    May 26, 2023 at 2:48 pm

    The “lives” saved by a six week time limit on abortions do not include the lives of women whose pregnancies can end tragically well beyond that time limit.

    Women living in the states which ban abortions at 6 weeks do not receive the best medical care because uneducated state legislators do not understand all of the medical complications a pregnancy can have. Women are risking their lives and their future fertility just by living in Texas, Florida, South Carolina and other states with ignorant legislators unable to write accurate abortion legislation which frees doctors from the risk of legal actions for providing health care to women.

    Time to move to states which support reproductive health care best practices for women. Time to vote out ignorant legislators.

Comments are closed.


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