MSNBC: Why (Ronnie The Weasel) is avoiding talking about abortion
Republicans across the country are rushing to craft new state laws restricting or banning abortion in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. But one of the most prominent members of their party has been conspicuously missing in action: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
After the June 24 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization invalidated the constitutional right to abortion access, DeSantis pledged in a statement to "expand pro-life protections." But he hasn’t specified how or when. The simplest explanation for his reticence is that tricky strategic dilemmas are leading him to drag his feet and remain quiet on the issue for now. DeSantis is a leading 2024 presidential hopeful, and his hesitation reflects Republican fears of an outsize Democratic backlash and underscores how the right doesn’t have a unified vision of how far to take its anti-abortion crusade.
As the Tallahassee Democrat reports, DeSantis appears reluctant to talk about what kind of anti-abortion laws he wants to see. He hasn’t spoken about the issue publicly, and he hasn’t taken questions from reporters at recent events. Asked whether DeSantis still supports so-called fetal heartbeat legislation, which would outlaw abortion after around six weeks of pregnancy — which he backed while running for governor in 2018 — his spokeswoman, Christina Pushaw, declined to respond affirmatively or negatively. According to the newspaper, she said, “We very much look forward to pursuing additional legislative protections for the unborn.” And while the anti-abortion advocacy group Florida Voice for the Unborn and at least one Republican state representative have called for DeSantis to call a special legislative session for a new anti-abortion law, so far he has refused.
The DeSantis administration has said it’s first awaiting the outcome of a legal challenge to an anti-abortion law the governor signed earlier this year before the Supreme Court torpedoed Roe v. Wade. That law prohibits abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy and was considered a win for the right in Florida. But given that in 2019 nearly all abortions in the state took place within 13 weeks, it’s not restrictive enough for hard-core anti-abortion activists. In a post-Roe legal environment, they want DeSantis to immediately call for far more extreme restrictions, and they know he is well-positioned to do it given that he is popular in his state and Republicans control both chambers of the Legislature.
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/why-ron-desantis-avoiding-talking-about-abortion-n1296843?icid=msd_topgrid
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