DeSantis' approach to a possible 6-week abortion ban in Florida could torpedo his shot at the presidency

• GOP lawmakers in Florida have introduced a six-week abortion ban.
• Republican presidential candidates are typically anti-abortion.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida faces a delicate balancing act on the issue of abortion as he heads into the state's lawmaking period, one that's widely expected to be a launching pad for a White House run.

Anti-abortion advocates are pushing the governor to further restrict abortion under the glare of the national spotlight. The earliest chance to do so kicked off Tuesday, when GOP state lawmakers introduced a bill that would make abortion illegal in Florida past six weeks in a pregnancy.

Republican candidates have supported anti-abortion measures in past presidential elections. But the 2024 White House contest will be the first presidential election since the conservative-majority Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Since then, nearly half of US states have restricted or fully banned abortion. All the while, the risk of voters' seeing candidates as going too far remains uncertain, and a rigid ban could be a political liability during a general election.

Public opinion is mixed on abortion, with Gallup showing that most people in the US support abortion being legal and that more people want the laws to be less strict rather than more.

Many Republican midterm candidates were hesitant to address abortion during the 2022 cycle, and congressional Democrats believe Roe's demise followed by subsequent abortion bans staved off a "red wave."

Democrats put Republicans on the spot about the issue, holding votes on abortion access and saying the court's decision would snowball to demolish other rights, including to birth control access and same-sex and interracial marriage.

While DeSantis has described himself as "pro-life" and said he'd "welcome" such legislation, he has not led from the front with abortion restrictions in the same way he did for numerous other policy priorities, from curbing illegal immigration to reducing taxes.

Should DeSantis run for president, he would face former President Donald Trump, someone anti-abortion groups often refer to as "the most pro-life president in history" because he delivered for their cause, including by appointing three Supreme Court justices that helped overturn Roe. Former Vice President Mike Pence, who is also expected to run, has a robust anti-abortion record that he implemented nationally alongside Trump.

But the ramifications of a six-week ban in Florida would go beyond politics. Florida is the only state in the southeast that allows abortions for up to 15 weeks. An earlier cut off would limit abortion access for millions of travelers who come to Florida for an abortion from neighboring states and countries.

The sixth week of pregnancy is when an embryo develops cardiac activity, but is also a time when it's hard for patients to know they're pregnant without a test.

Anti-abortion groups want federal restrictions

DeSantis signed a bill into law last year — under fanfare with anti-abortion groups — that put the current, 15-week ban into law. It's currently being litigated because Florida's constition contains a right to privacy.

As the session kicked off in Tallahassee on Tuesday, the path to a six-week abortion ban in Florida appeared more clear than it did a few months ago.

Republicans hold a two-thirds majority in the legislature, and Florida Senate President Kathleen Passidomo told reporters Tuesday that she supported the six-week ban because it had exceptions for rape and incest that are not part of current law.

The comments were different from last year, when Passidomo said she would support limiting abortion for up to 12 weeks.

Asked about the six-week ban on Tuesday, DeSantis told reporters he hadn't seen the bill that was filed, but suggested that legislation would be written in such a way that a further ban wouldn't go into effect unless the court were to green-light Florida's 15-week ban.

Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, told Insider that she was lobbying in Passidomo's district ahead of the 60-day sessions to pressure the leader to go further. Supporters from the organization demanded a bill that "protects life at conception" during a press conference in Tallahassee on Tuesday.

"When you look at the record for life in Florida, it could be a whole lot better," Hawkins told Insider in an interview. "DeSantis and Florida really need to show leadership on this issue."

A 12-week ban was not going to give DeSantis "the credentials we'd look for," Hawkins said of DeSantis pursuing the GOP nomination among other contenders.

But Caitlin Connors, Southern regional director for the influential anti-abortion organization SBA List, didn't express the same frustration with DeSantis as Students for Life, saying that she thought the governor had been clear that he'd sign a six-week ban into law.

"The legislature is going to have to figure out what the consensus is. We encourage them to do something like a Heartbeat Bill to see those protections put in place," Connors said, referring to a six-week ban.

Crossing anti-abortion groups ahead of an election is potentially fraught. Advocates pour millions of dollars into campaigns, knock on doors in districts, and do phone banking at a rate that rivals advocates of numerous other causes.

Marilyn Musgrave, SBA List's vice president of government affairs, told Insider that the group would only support presidential candidates who back a national abortion restriction, which would create a gestational-limits ceiling on abortion in every state. The limit could be 20, 15, or six weeks, she said, and the organization's leaders would talk to all candidates running.

The group is still deciding whether it'll endorse in a primary, and which criteria it'll use to do so, she added.

She and other anti-abortion advocates disagree with the premise that Republicans should try to avoid the topic of abortion, and said during the midterms Republicans should have put Democrats on the spot over loose restrictions.

"When you look at the specific races, it was the failure of some candidates to articulate their pro-life beliefs and pro-life stance," Hawkins said. "They refused to talk about abortion, and they let their opponents do the talking on abortion. That hurt them."

Democrats vow to go to 'war' against six-week ban

Democratic lawmakers in Florida who support abortion rights are outnumbered in working to stop anti-abortion legislation.

"I now have fewer rights than my mother did," Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell of Polk County said during a response to the governor's address. In a press conference with reporters, she acknowledged the math was difficult but vowed the party would fight, arguing that a six-week ban was broadly unpopular among Floridians.

Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book, a Democrat of Plantation, Florida, accused Republicans of going "scorched earth" with their abortion ban bill.

"This is it. They have come," she said in a statement. "And if it's a war they want, it's a war they will get. This issue bridges the partisan divide, and we will not go down as easily as they believe."

The bill also drew condemnation from the White House. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre accused DeSantis of "attacking the freedom to make one's own healthcare decisions" — echoing similar comments Vice President Kamala Harris made during a speech on abortion in Tallahassee last month.

In a speech that clocked in under 30 minutes, DeSantis appeared to signal that he would couple anti-abortion measures with policies supporting parents, including tax cuts on needed baby items. One sentence in his speech was about abortion, in which he said Florida was "proud to be pro-family and we are proud to be pro-life."

He also urged the legislature not to "worry about the chattering class" during the session.

"We won't back down and I can promise you this," he said, "You ain't seen nothing yet."