Why Ron DeSantis Is Afraid to Talk About the Abortion Ban He Just Signed
The issue has become politically toxic for Republicans, though that may not stop them from getting their way
You may have heard that Gov. Ron DeSantis just signed a bill imposing a 6-week abortion ban in Florida.
If so, it's not because he made a big deal about it.
DeSantis held a quiet signing ceremony at 10:45 pm, unannounced and without public remarks. The next day, he didn't even mention the ban during a high-profile speech at Liberty University, the religious school famous for its ultra-conservative politics.
This isn't an accident, for reasons I explain in my latest at HuffPost.
Republican leaders realize their hard-right position on reproductive rights has become politically toxic to all but their core supporters. The Florida ban may help DeSantis win the GOP presidential nomination, but it'd hurt him in the general election.
That doesn't mean Republicans like DeSantis are going to stop trying to ban abortion -- or that they can't succeed. Among other things, they are increasingly focusing on places insulated from electoral accountability, whether it's deeply red and heavily gerrymandered states or courtrooms presided over by Federalist Society judges.
There are still plenty of places where strategy can't work — at least for now.
One of them is Michigan, where voters just put reproductive rights protections into the constitution and the new Democratic legislature just passed a bill rescinding our "zombie" 1931 ban. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed it into law at a mid-afternoon ceremony, with speeches and fanfare, while wearing a bright pink blazer and a "Bans Off Our Bodies" lapel pin.
That's the mark of a politician who knows the public is on her side. But in America, that's not always enough to prevail, as my article explains.
Here’s the link: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ron-desantis-florida-abortion-ban_n_64395086e4b066950599ee1e
Thank you reading.
P.S. It’s been suggested to me that Whitmer’s blazer is more fuchsia than pink. What do you think?