DeSantis and the politics of abortion
Kaylee McGhee White
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Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) signed one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country into law last week. The Heartbeat Protection Act will prohibit abortions after six weeks, but allow for exceptions in cases of rape, incest, human trafficking, and when a mother’s life is at risk.
Predictably, Democrats and abortion advocates have attacked the bill (and DeSantis) as tyrannical. More surprising is Republicans’ reaction to the law. Some are predicting DeSantis has just scrapped any presidential chance he might have had, with billionaire GOP donor Thomas Peterffy saying last week that he’s pausing all funds to DeSantis’s campaign. Peterffy, apparently, thinks DeSantis’s hard line on social issues is untenable.
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I disagree, and I’m sure DeSantis does as well, for several reasons. The first is that moving to the right on social issues is crucial if DeSantis hopes to carve out a space for himself on the primary stage. There is no point in trying to out-trump Donald Trump. DeSantis needs to find the issues on which Trump is weak and provide a different perspective. Considering Trump has openly blamed the pro-life movement for recent electoral losses, abortion is certainly one of those issues.
Second, if DeSantis were to win the GOP nomination and decide to take a more centrist approach on abortion ahead of the general election, this law in no way prevents him from doing so. The Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision made it clear that state policymakers have the right and responsibility to legislate on the issue of abortion. Florida lawmakers decided to act on this responsibility and make the heartbeat bill one of their legislative priorities, and DeSantis declined to stand in their way.
This is how DeSantis has handled this issue for the past several years. He’s been supportive of pro-life measures without directly advocating them, instead leaving that job to others. Even after signing the Heartbeat Protection Act, for example, DeSantis made sure to give credit to the state legislature for its passage.
However, there is also reason to believe that if DeSantis were to take a bolder approach and advocate pro-life policies on the national stage, he’d be successful. Pro-life initiatives are politically unpopular right now in part because they lack clear direction and a cohesive strategy to get them across the finish line. Abortion advocates, on the other hand, are very straightforward in their opposition to pro-life policies, framing every single one of them as a blanket ban on abortion, which makes most voters nervous.
Republicans need to pick a policy and unapologetically rally behind it. There is too much confusion about individual policies and whether they ought to be passed at the state or federal level. By signing the Heartbeat Protection Act, DeSantis has given Republicans a model to pursue at both levels: A law that protects unborn children once a heartbeat is detected and provides significant resources for expecting mothers and families during and after pregnancy.
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Such a bill might not be realistic in blue states or even at the national level right now. But the fact is that policy influences public opinion just as much as public opinion influences policy. Consider, for example, DeSantis’s decision to reopen Florida during the pandemic even when most of the country remained locked down. Few leaders wanted to take this stand because they knew they’d be smeared as callous and reckless — which is exactly what happened to “DeathSantis.” Yet he’s since been vindicated by both the scientific establishment and the voters, with major researchers admitting that lockdowns were completely useless and Florida voters turning out in massive numbers to hand DeSantis a sweeping victory in the November midterm elections.
This is what leaders are supposed to do: Pick a position — ideally one that is just and advances a common good — and aggressively work to show the public why it’s worth supporting. We are in desperate need of such a leader in this post-Roe era. Perhaps DeSantis is ready to be one.