In signing 6-week ban, DeSantis wades into thorny debate over abortion
and 2024
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[April 15, 2023]
By Joseph Ax
(Reuters) - When Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a 15-week abortion
ban on April 14, 2022, he held a morning ceremony at a church in front
of an enormous "Protect Life" sign, flanked by women and children.
On Thursday, exactly one year later, DeSantis – now a likely 2024
Republican presidential candidate – signed a six-week ban with decidedly
less fanfare. The bill signing took place at 10:45 p.m., with no advance
notice to the national media.
The stark difference underscored how the politics around abortion have
transformed since the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated a nationwide right
to abortion in June 2022, a seismic shift that has helped Democrats
score a series of electoral victories.
The decision has created a political minefield for Republicans, who must
try to strike a balance between appeasing the anti-abortion conservative
base without turning off the majority of U.S. voters who oppose an
outright ban. Republican presidential hopefuls, including former
President Donald Trump, have largely sidestepped the issue.
But that has become increasingly difficult as abortion remains at the
forefront of the political world. The issue featured prominently in last
week's state Supreme Court race in Wisconsin and in an ongoing court
battle over the legality of a commonly used abortion drug.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted last month showed abortion remains
divisive even among Republican voters, with just 54% of Republican
respondents saying they would be more likely to support a presidential
candidate who backs banning or severely restricting abortion. Nearly
four in five Democratic voters, meanwhile, said they would look less
favorably upon such a candidate.
The issue could prove especially costly for Republicans among women, who
were more likely to oppose restrictions, as well as moderate voters,
whose support will be crucial for the 2024 contest. Among poll
respondents who identified as independent or merely leaning toward a
party, 68% disliked anti-abortion candidates, while 32% favored them.
DeSantis' backing of a six-week ban – one of the nation's most
restrictive – may help him consolidate support among conservatives but
would give Democrats plenty of ammunition for the general election if he
wins the Republican nomination.
"The gap between what base voters want and what swing voters will
tolerate has gotten very large for Republicans, and abortion is a great
example of that," said Sarah Longwell, a Republican strategist who has
conducted numerous voter focus groups.
On Friday morning, less than 12 hours after signing the bill, DeSantis
traveled to Liberty University, a conservative Christian school in
Virginia. The campus pastor, Jonathan Falwell, praised DeSantis as a
champion for unborn babies in his introduction, mentioning the six-week
ban to wide applause.
But DeSantis never mentioned the bill in his 19-minute speech, instead
simply saying that he had "elevated the importance of family and
promoted a culture of life."
REPUBLICANS TREAD CAREFULLY
Other Republican presidential contenders have also treaded carefully.
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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis addresses
a university convocation at Liberty University, in Lynchburg,
Virginia, U.S., April 14, 2023. REUTERS/Justin Ide
South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, who announced a presidential
exploratory committee this week, declined to answer directly on
Thursday when asked whether he would support a national ban. On
Friday, he told NBC News he would back the "most conservative
pro-life legislation" that Congress passed, though he would not
commit to a specific time frame.
Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, another 2024 candidate,
offered little clarity at a campaign event in Iowa this week, saying
the issue should be left to the states but also suggesting she might
be open to a national ban if a consensus emerged.
Trump, whose appointment of three conservative justices to the
Supreme Court led directly to the court's decision to overturn Roe,
has not spent much time taking credit for it.
In a social media post after November's midterm elections, he blamed
the "abortion issue" for the party's underperformance.
By contrast, former Vice President Mike Pence, a staunch
conservative who has hinted at a White House bid, offered
unequivocal support for the Florida bill in a Fox News interview on
Friday, adding, "I'm pro-life. I don't apologize for it."
Democrats have seized on the Republicans' stances to portray them as
out of step with American voters on the issue. The Democratic
National Committee issued scathing statements this week attacking
DeSantis and Scott on their positions, warning that a Republican
administration would push for a national ban.
"Right now, abortion is emerging as a key voting issue in 2024, and
that's a voting issue that is a problem for Republicans," said Stu
Rothenberg, an analyst at the non-partisan newsletter Inside
Elections.
Not everyone agrees. In a statement after DeSantis signed the
six-week ban, Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of Susan B.
Anthony Pro-Life America, a leading anti-abortion group, noted that
he had overwhelmingly won re-election in November while "never
flinching in the face of extremist opposition."
In Wisconsin, abortion was a huge motivator for Democratic voters in
the race for a swing seat on the state Supreme Court, said Sam
Roecker, a top campaign advisor to liberal Janet Protasiewicz, who
easily won the contest.
But he said abortion was only part of their effort to portray her
conservative opponent as too far right for the state.
"It's important to tie this back to an overall theme of extremism
that can resonate beyond just those base voters," he said.
(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Additional reporting by Jason Lange, Nathan
Layne and Tim Reid; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Daniel Wallis)
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