Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has dismissed the idea that women could be legally punished for breaching abortion laws, while shying away from committing to a federal-level abortion ban.
“Not at all. No. I don’t think this is an issue about the woman. I think a lot of these women are in very difficult circumstances. They don’t get any support from a lot of the fathers,” he said.
“The number one reason why women choose to have an abortion is because they’re not getting support and they feel abandoned. In Florida, we’ve provided support and we put our money where our mouth is. But at the end of the day, I would not support any penalties on a woman.”
The Republican governor pointed out that he is “pro-life” and has “a record of promoting a culture of life in Florida.”
When asked whether the abortion issue should be dealt with on a state-by-state basis rather than by the federal government, Mr. DeSantis said: “I do think the federal government would have an interest in, say, preventing post-birth abortions or things that are really horrific. But I don’t think that there’s enough consensus in the country to see a lot of mileage in Congress.”
“If you want to protect life, it’s a bottom-up movement. So, let’s work with states that have done it, work in your local communities. But you also have to understand … what Iowa’s done is not what New Hampshire is going to do, and what Wisconsin will do is not what Texas is going to do.”
Mr. DeSantis’s lack of commitment to making abortion a federal-level restriction has attracted criticism from pro-life groups.
“The American people have expressed a clear consensus for protecting babies in the womb at least by the point they can feel pain at 15 weeks, while allowing states to enact stronger protections,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony (SBA) Pro-Life America, said in a July 31 statement.
‘Infanticide’
Asked in the NBC interview whether he would veto any federal bill that attempts to put a nationwide ban on abortion, Mr. DeSantis replied, “We will be a pro-life president and we will support pro-life policies.”“I would not allow what a lot of the left wants to do, which is to override pro-life protections throughout the country all the way up really until the moment of birth in some instances, which I think is infanticide.”
“I do think that the left in this country has moved on from a position that said ‘you know what, we do want to discourage abortion, it’s not something that’s a good thing’ to now viewing it more as a positive good for society.”
“Regardless of how they feel on legal protections, I don’t think most Americans think it’s a positive good for society. It’s obviously a tragic circumstance.”
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved over-the-counter birth control, a policy that the Florida governor said he supports.
“In Florida, we provide about 100,000 people a year with access to contraception at no cost to them. I think it should be available over the counter and I think people should be able to have access to it,” he said.
GOP Candidates on 15-Week Abortions
Abortion is a crucial topic among Republicans ahead of the primaries. Only a few GOP presidential candidates have explicitly stated that they would institute a 15-week federal abortion ban.While Mr. DeSantis, the second-placed Republican candidate in the primaries, has already made it clear that he is not committed to such a move, top candidate former President Donald Trump has also refrained from making such a commitment.
