Will Abortion Politics Upend the Republican Presidential Primary?Rebecca Downs
August 05, 2023
The abortion issue has, at times, become something of a complicated issue in the Republican presidential primary. With last year's Dobbs v. Jackson decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the people are allowed to decide the issue through their legislatures. Some would take this to mean only at the state level, while others think the federal government should have a say, specifically through a federal 15-week abortion ban.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America has been among those pro-life groups keeping tabs on where the candidates stand for 2024, and they haven't been afraid to call out candidates when they feel it's necessary. In April that was former and potentially future President Donald Trump. Earlier this week, it was Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL).
On Monday, the group released a press release declaring "Ron DeSantis’ Position Is Unacceptable to Pro-Life Voters," in response to an interview that DeSantis gave to Megyn Kelly last week.
After bringing up how DeSantis in April signed a Florida bill into law that would ban most abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, at about six weeks, which she said was popular with Republican voters, Kelly pointed out that "you haven't yet said whether you would support doing that at the federal level, wanting to know "will you say so now?"
SBA has spoken positively before about DeSantis including when the governor signed pro-life legislation back in April, including in statements for Townhall.
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In his response to Kelly, DeSantis spoke to and promoted what the law does in Florida. He also referred to the law as "the most significant pro-life protections that we've ever done in the state of Florida in the modern history" to make the case he's "been a pro-life governor" and "will be a pro-life president" and will "come down on the side of life."
When it comes to his "running on the things I know I can accomplish," DeSantis spoke to his plans as president to focus on other pro-life priorities, such as "end abortion tourism that is in the military," which he called "an egregious waste of taxpayer dollars," for there to be "no funding for abortion," and "to ensure that the Supreme Court remains so that Dobbs is not overturned.
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Source:
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/rebeccadowns/2023/08/05/are-abortion-politics-upending-the-republican-presidential-primary-n2626679
