A.G. Gancarski
In Iowa, Ron DeSantis is taking a firm stance in favor of men being obligated to pay support to women carrying their children from the moment of conception by way of “making sure that the fathers are involved.”
“I think that as soon as a woman is pregnant, that the father owes support for the woman,” he said during an interview on KCCI’s “Conversations with the Candidate” series.
Ironically, the supermajority Florida Legislature had an opportunity to do just that during its consideration and passage of the state’s Heartbeat Protection Act, banning abortion after six weeks of gestation except in the cases of rare exceptions.
An amendment from Rep. Katherine Waldron would have compelled the father of a baby whose underage mother was denied an abortion to put up a $300,000 bond for financial support of the mother and impose a condition of no contact on the father. That bond would have been in effect until the child became an adult or could live independently, whichever came first.
However, the language didn’t make it into the final product, with the House passing the Senate product.
Waldron noted in April that 48 amendments to the “forced pregnancy bill” from House Democrats failed, with attempts by the super-minority party “to mitigate consequences of child pregnancies & pregnancies due to rape & incest all … voted down.”
She contended, “If all of our amendments had been accepted, then we would have at least gotten a bill with more exceptions, paid maternity leave, increased health care funding, held the father financially accountable and much more.”
DeSantis has contended that many abortions are driven by a lack of financial support from men to women they impregnate.
He said Florida was “sympathetic” to expectant mothers mulling abortion and that the fathers of the unborn children should pay child support to the mothers.
“Most of these women do not want to have abortions, but they feel like they have no other options because they get no support. And that’s because a lot of these men are nowhere to be found,” DeSantis told Kayleigh McEnany on Fox News in September.
“They should absolutely be providing support,” DeSantis added. “They should absolutely be held accountable.”
DeSantis said that in Florida, being “pro-life means for the whole kit and caboodle,” noting that state law expands postpartum medical care and options for foster care and adoption.
“I think a lot of it comes down to whether women think it’s financially feasible to do that. And when they don’t get support from the father, then it can be overwhelming. So, we in Florida are sympathetic to those women in that situation,” DeSantis said.
17 comments
FloridaPatriot
November 17, 2023 at 12:29 pm
All BS lip service. Put the law holding men accountable out there or STFU.
Elizabeth Francis Deets
November 17, 2023 at 9:12 pm
I know this is supposedly about women, and helping them, but let’s be real.
This man is an unashamedly liar & coward looking for votes!!
I chose my 5 abortions and I’m not ashamed!!!
Michael
November 19, 2023 at 6:35 am
Try some freaking birth control.
jo028229
November 19, 2023 at 10:48 am
There’s no 100% pregnancy proof birth control method. Not saying that your statement may have a little bit of merit, but how about being a little more less a-holish. She is pretty brave coming into a comments section knowing there are always people of your caliber awaiting.
Linwood Wright
November 29, 2023 at 12:45 am
The Christian Right is coming after that next. Mark my words.
TJC
November 17, 2023 at 1:04 pm
And how would a woman prove who the father is without a paternity test. Until the baby is born, a guy could just say, “Hey, it’s not me.” This is nonsense, made to distract from the six week abortion law, made to sound as if he cares about women. Unless, of course, DeSantis is suggesting the State could have a State official in the bedroom at the time of conception to certify that, yeah, this is the guy. He could call it a Parental Rights obligation that the State owes to the woman.
Michael K
November 17, 2023 at 1:41 pm
Men “should” but women are “forced” to give birth.
PeterH
November 17, 2023 at 6:25 pm
This unenforceable type of legislation could lead to domestic violence. DeSantis never thinks through policy decisions.
Dr. Franklin Waters
November 29, 2023 at 12:44 am
WILL lead to domestic violence. 100%.
MHart
November 18, 2023 at 6:50 am
There you go, gentlemen. Now YOU get a taste of your bodily rights now at risk. Vote Republican and soon your sperm and wallet will be under govt control. Birth control and abortion will be outlawed, and you will be a parent against your will. The only end-game here is, children have parents who don’t want to be parents and are unprepared for life and society. They will go to prison to be free labor or into the military to die in rich men’s wars. See the end-game. Care about the truth. Vote for your freedom, not the enslavement of your children for profit.
jo028229
November 19, 2023 at 10:56 am
As Desantis is a lawyer and as his many legislation blunders ending up in litigation shows he’s all about creating business for lawyers. Highly expensive and powerful ones in his legislative litigation cases, and ambulance chasers in the case of his proposed men held financially responsible for pregnancy law.
Like someone above stated it will be difficult to prove until birth who’s the father, so Maury and other show hosts like him will have so much content if FL ever implements such a law.
nancy
November 18, 2023 at 4:53 pm
I disagree you have men that do support their kids without being told but the gold digging state works with the gold digging woman and put a living caring supportive father on child support just so you the state can have must of the pay the mother don’t get all of that so get out of here with this child support garbage all this is to benefit you the crook it state
nancy
November 18, 2023 at 4:53 pm
I disagree you have men that do support their kids without being told but the gold digging state works with the gold digging woman and put a living caring supportive father on child support just so you the state can have must of the pay the mother don’t get all of that so get out of here with this child support garbage all this is to benefit you the crook it state
Lorene Caywood
November 19, 2023 at 10:49 am
If grown, reasonably intelligent women can’t or won’t protect themselves from becoming pregnant why should they be allowed to get an abortion up to 5 months? Plus if you are stupid enough to have sex without protection we now have the morning after pill. And don’t blame or count on the man, “he told me he had a vasectomy”or any other ridiculous line of bull that his dumb ass brain comes up with. We are the ones that can get pregnant, buy whatever you need for yourself because no one else can do it for you. Women raise hell about rights well start using your rights and your brain and be responsible for yourself. I’m pro choice, but I’m appalled at the women that are so lazy or neglectful or just plain idiots that act as if it’s okay to use abortion as a safety net in case they get pregnant.
jo028229
November 19, 2023 at 11:10 am
What would you say to a woman who did all you described to prevent pregnancy-took her birth control pill, had her man use a condom with a slathering of spermicide, felt ill the next day so she took Plan B to be safe, and still discovered she was pregnant? Would you find she deserves an abortion as a last resort? Or would you feel at this point the zygote has won?
There are women who aren’t necessarily lazy or neglectful that use abortion as their safety net because other forms of protection have a high case of failure in their opinions, and they are too poor to protect themselves on a daily basis. Of course, they risk many other life altering things than just pregnancy-AIDS, or another STD. They use sex as an escape from the hell of their life and foresee little that can change it. Cheaper than drugs, though as addictive.
Dystopia
November 22, 2023 at 6:41 am
This soap-box stance of blaming women is tired and outdated. There are women that want to have a healthy pregnancy but are confronted with health problems that put their lives at risk. By trying to legislate morality, these medical decisions are removed from women and their doctors and the decision is now being made by your government. How dystopian. Medical decisions are rarely black and white so these black and white laws will harm as many as they intend to help. Stop buying into the soapbox rants about women with loose morals and start asking how far you are willing to let the government control medical decisions for individuals. It won’t stop with women’s reproductive decisions.
Dr. Franklin Waters
November 29, 2023 at 12:43 am
I think all Republicans who oppose legal abortion should be required by law to adopt children now. They voted for it, they should back it up.
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