I appreciate the fact that in Wednesday's GOP Debate, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott and Governor Ron DeSantis took a stand for Life. One of Dana Perino's really stupid questions was how DeSantis was going to win over independent, pro-choice voters. Perino went from the premise that the states in 2022 that had pro-life initiatives on their ballot were states where the GOP lost. 

DeSantis said, "I reject the idea that pro-lifers are to blame for midterm defeat." He dismissed the notion that the Republican stance on abortion is what cost them in the 2022 midterms.

DeSantis rejects the idea that pro-lifers are to blame for midterm losses: "I think we should hold the Democrats accountable for their extremism, supporting abortion all the way up until the moment of birth. That is infanticide, and that is wrong." pic.twitter.com/8Imgwah5kG

— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) September 28, 2023

DeSantis should have gone a step further to clarify that it was Republican's messaging (or lack thereof) that presented problems. Particularly the messaging about creating a federal ban on abortion. Once South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham floated that 15-week national ban and Republicans either ran from it or ran with it, it muddied the argument.

But DeSantis chose to double down on statements made at the debate. He confirmed exclusively with The Daily Signal that he supports a 15-week federal abortion ban.

Are you kidding me?!

In audio of the debate following DeSantis’ response to an abortion question, candidate Sen. Tim Scott can be heard asking DeSantis if he would support legislation banning abortions of babies after 15 weeks.

“Yes, I will,” DeSantis responds.

His campaign confirmed to The Daily Signal that he did indeed make this statement. Scott, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and former Vice President Mike Pence have also pledged to sign 15-week protections.

The move may have garnered support for the governor from pro-life groups like the Susan B. Anthony List (SBA), which has been vocal about presidential candidates supporting national legislation that protects unborn children up to 15 weeks, but for a man who defined the place and power of federalism, DeSantis seems a bit unclear on what should be his purview as president. The Dobbs decision took the abortion question and all it entails out of the hands of the federal government and brought it back to the individual states. Why would he want to upend this?

As if on cue, The SBA put out a glowing press statement. They practically were over the moon with DeSantis, and also gave kudos to Senator Tim Scott and former Vice President Mike Pence, both of whom support a federal abortion ban.

Marjorie Dannenfelser issued the following statement:

“We thank Governor Ron DeSantis for his commitment to support minimum federal protections for babies in the womb when they feel pain by 15 weeks, while keeping states free to be as ambitious as possible for life. We thank Senator Tim Scott for raising this vital point in the debate and for advocating these protections for months, as has Vice President Mike Pence. This standard reflects the consensus of seven in 10 Americans, in contrast to the Democrats’ no-limits agenda of abortion on demand, paid for by taxpayers, at any time for any reason throughout all nine months of pregnancy. Momentum is growing and all GOP candidates should unify around this offense strategy.”

A recent New York Times/Siena poll found that 67% of Republican primary voters in Iowa, including 65% of women, support a federal law protecting babies in the womb at least by 15 weeks (49% strongly support).

With all due respect to the state of Iowa and Iowans, these voters are out to lunch. They fail to understand what giving power back to the individual states really meant. One year post-Roe, Americans United for Life (AUL) has kept track of all the victories and changes that have been enacted and enabled because the issue has been returned to the states.

American United for Life’s policy paper, “One Year Later: The Landscape of America’s Life-Protecting Laws after Dobbs,” provides an overview of the changes in life-protecting laws and abortion litigation in the United States one year after Dobbs. The paper highlights the following significant changes: 

• Fourteen states have laws in effect that protect life from conception. 
• Five states have laws that protect life after the detection of a heartbeat, although some of these laws are enjoined due to ongoing litigation. 
• Two states have laws that protect life after 12 weeks’ gestation. 
• Six states have defended their pre-Roe laws in court. 
• At least 30 federal court cases have been dismissed following Dobbs. 
• Courts in Texas and Louisiana have lifted injunctions against pro-life laws the Supreme Court previously ruled unconstitutional under Roe abortion “right.” 
• Several pro-life lawsuits have been filed regarding chemical abortion drugs, including one high-profile case challenging the FDA’s approval and deregulation of these risky drugs. 

Why would any sane person who purportedly cares about Life want to unravel and upend this progress? What Iowans and others should be doing is working to strengthen their own pro-life laws and funding pro-life resource centers and organizations, while working to transform the minds and hearts of the people of their state to embrace a Culture of Life. The federal government did a poor job with managing abortion; they would do an equally poor job trying to force and enforce the cause for life.

AUL continued,

After a year of dramatic changes in the landscape of life-affirming laws, it is important to pause and celebrate the great accomplishments made by the pro-life movement. Although there have been challenges in a post-Roe world, states have vigorously defended their pro-life laws, and must continue to do so in order to protect women and preborn children from abortion violence.  

“We have had many pro-life victories in the courts and state legislatures since Roe v. Wade was reversed,” said Carolyn McDonnell, AUL Litigation Counsel. “Abortionists voluntarily dismissed dozens of lawsuits in the federal courts, realizing they couldn’t continue litigating after the Supreme Court reversed Roe. Although states are now defending against litigation that seeks to devise state constitutional rights to abortion, the pro-life movement has won many hard-fought legal victories. We are living in a post-Roe world, and the future is pro-life.”

Spot on. So, why does Governor Ron DeSantis not change his campaign tack and focus on what a president could do to build on this progress, rather than attempt to roll it back by supporting or seeking to implement an authoritarian federal mandate? Essentially, what he, Scott, Pence, and the SBA are saying is that they wish to destroy the hard work of committed pro-life activists who fought for 50 years to see Roe overturned. Any form of a federal ban would be to spit in the eye of these dedicated people who fought, bled, and gave (and continue to give) their time and treasure to save the lives of the unborn. 

“Now that there is no longer a right to abortion under the federal Constitution, Dobbs has emboldened the pro-life movement in their fight for life and reinvigorated many states’ desires to protect the unborn,” stated Danielle Pimentel, AUL Policy Counsel. “This has led many states to put forth strong pro-life legislation that protects women and their preborn children, as well as the pro-life community rallying together to oppose anti-life bills. As a result, we are seeing more states boldly protecting life. The pro-life movement won the close to 50-year battle against Roe, and will continue to fight until both law and culture protect human dignity throughout life.” 

What Dobbs did was empower and strengthen the pro-life movement. A federal ban is a non-starter to begin with, and if it ever could happen, it would only serve to demoralize the pro-life movement and diminish their work. DeSantis and his team should rethink and revise any future statements on how to be pro-life that reflect their commitment to encourage and strengthen the states working tirelessly to change hearts and minds, and who seek to affirm the Culture of Life necessary to see a complete end to abortion nationwide.