NEW: DeSantis Hides From Extreme Abortion After Closed Door, Dark of Night Signing
April 14, 2023
Just now, in a speech at conservative Liberty University, Ron DeDeSantis conveniently blew past any mention of his new extreme abortion ban – further highlighting just how desperate MAGA Republicans are to hide their extreme anti-choice records. DeSantis’s extreme ban, which bans abortion before many women know they’re pregnant, is just his latest policy plank in his MAGA agenda – requiring victims of rape or incest to provide documentation of the crime committed against them just to get access to care they need and setting up potential of jail time or criminal penalties for doctors.
This morning, DeSantis had exactly ZERO mentions about the extreme abortion ban he just signed in the dark of night, behind closed doors.
Gary Fineout, Politico: “Florida @GovRonDeSantis just wrapped up his speech at Liberty University. He did not mention the newly-signed ban on abortion after six weeks, although it was mentioned in his introduction. DeSantis stuck to familiar points he has cited in previous remarks.”
Maeve Reston, Washington Post: “At Liberty University just now, @GovRonDeSantis did not mention the new six-week ban on abortion in Florida that he just signed. Was mentioned by his intro speaker & crowd cheered, but he delivered his usual stump speech.”
After spending the day stumping on his shadow 2024 presidential campaign, DeSantis decided to sign this extreme abortion ban BEHIND closed doors, late at night, and without media present.
Tampa Bay Times: “Late Thursday night, in a private ceremony in his office, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill to ban most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. His office announced the signing in a highly unusual news release sent out after 11 p.m., then updated his schedule to say the ceremony happened at 10:45 p.m.”
This ban is DeSantis’s latest salvo as he desperately races to out-MAGA his 2024 GOP rivals.
Politico: “Gov. Ron DeSantis late Thursday night signed Florida’s six-week abortion ban into law just hours after the GOP-led Legislature approved it. The legislation will upend Florida’s status as an abortion haven in the south, cutting off access for thousands who would otherwise travel from neighboring states each year for the procedure.”
Politico: “DeSantis is banking on support in the primary from anti-abortion voters”
A child incest victim and women across Florida have already been forced to leave the state to access care under the abortion ban DeSantis had already signed into law last year.
BuzzFeed News: “A child who was the victim of incest was denied an abortion in Florida since the state instituted its 15-week ban in July, the local Planned Parenthood chapter told BuzzFeed News.”
Washington Post: “But when the Florida resident tried to get an abortion last July, she was stonewalled by a state law that had gone into effect days earlier banning most abortions after 15 weeks. After she couldn’t find a doctor who would give her a medical exemption in fear of a potential lawsuit, Lopes said she was forced to fly more than 1,000 miles from South Florida to Washington, D.C., to get an abortion when she was 16 weeks and three days.”
Washington Post: “Nobody expected things to happen the way they did when halfway through their planned and seemingly healthy pregnancy, a routine ultrasound revealed the fetus had devastating abnormalities, pitching the dazed couple into the uncharted landscape of Florida’s new abortion law… Even though medical experts expect their baby to survive only 20 minutes to a couple of hours, the Dorberts say their doctors told them that because of the new legislation, they could not terminate the pregnancy.”
But DeSantis is far from the only 2024 Republican pushing an extreme anti-abortion agenda. MAGA Republican presidential hopefuls are hellbent on ripping away a woman’s right to choose.
Donald Trump: “Nobody has ever done more for right to life than Donald Trump. I put three Supreme Court justices who all voted, and they got something that they’ve been fighting for for 64 years.”’
Tim Scott: “We have to have a federal limit on how far we can go, and that is something that we have to discuss.”
Wolf Blitzer: “Would you support a six-week ban nationwide?” Mike Pence: “Well, of course. Look – I’m pro-life. I don’t apologize for it. I believe that we’ve got to do everything in our power to restore the sanctity of life to the center of American law. And I’d support federal legislation in that regard if I was in the Congress or had any other job here in town.”
Newsweek: “Haley described herself as ‘very pro-life’ and has spent most of her political career fighting for anti-abortion legislation, including signing a law as South Carolina governor in 2016 banning the procedure in most circumstances after 19 weeks of pregnancy unless the mother’s life is at risk.”
DC News Now: “Gov. Glenn Youngkin said he was ‘frustrated’ with state Democrats after a swift rejection Thursday of his proposed 15-week ban on abortion.”
Associated Press: “[Gov. Kristi Noem] and South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley released a letter to South Dakota pharmacists saying they are ‘subject to felony prosecution’ if they procure or dispense abortion-inducing drugs. The state bans all abortions except to save the life of the pregnant person.”
Mike Pompeo: “While we would like to see abortion illegal nationwide, that likely won’t happen in the near term. Instead, we should take a two-pronged approach: 1) restrict abortion as much as possible in each state, and 2) work to create a society that makes abortion obsolete.”