Can he manage the wingnuts? Does he want to?
What’s going to happen with abortion in Florida now that the right has run the table? Well…
Supercharged by a super majority in the House and Senate, Florida legislative leaders broke their silence Wednesday and confirmed they are prepared to discuss further abortion restrictions in Florida in the next year. But how far they will go is the big question, and interviews with the presiding officers indicate they already appear to be taking different approaches.
Incoming Senate President Kathleen Passidomo told the Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times in an interview that she wants to see the 15-week ban approved last year by lawmakers reduced to 12 weeks with the addition of an exclusion for rape and incest, which is currently not allowed. TOP VIDEOS × “I went on record on the abortion bill in support of an exclusion for rape and incest, and I’d like to see that,’’ said Passidomo, a Naples Republican who will be sworn in this month as the third woman to be Florida’s Senate president. “And I think in order to accomplish that, I think we would have to reduce the weeks. I don’t have a problem going to 12 weeks.”
They are horsetrading with your bodies, ladies. Seriously. They are absolutely shameless in doing this.
Under the law passed earlier this year, all abortions are banned 15 weeks after a woman’s last menstrual period. Women can still obtain an abortion after that cutoff if their health is threatened or if their baby has a “fatal fetal abnormality,” but there is no exception for victims of rape or incest.
Incoming House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, said the House is likely to support additional restrictions as well but he was unwilling to “put a number on it.” “I don’t think it’s time for me to put a number on it until we’ve organized,’’ Renner said, noting that there are 30 new legislators joining the House after the election, including a record 85-member Republican majority.
He was not prepared to say if they will want to see an outright ban on all abortions or further limits on the existing 15-week ban. “I personally am pro life and would like to see us move more in that direction,’’ he said. “But I want to hear from my colleagues in the House and my colleagues in the Senate before we take any steps in that direction.”
Well that’s good. They’ll “hear from” their wingnut yahoo brethren before they decide whether and how much to destroy women’s lives. Good to know.
And in case you were wondering about the latest Great Whitebread Hope, here it is:
Bryan Griffin, a spokesman for Gov. Ron DeSantis confirmed the possibility of additional abortion legislation on Friday, and wrote: “We look forward to working with the Legislature to further advance protections for innocent life.” ‘
I don’t know how much of a true believer he is on this. He managed to hold his fire long enough to stay out of the battle in 2022. Can he finesse this for 2024? It won’t be easy. Adn for all we know he is hardcore he is. Can he keep the zealots in line? This is will be a big test:
Anti-abortion activists want legislators to tighten the limits on the procedure by passing a so-called “heartbeat” bill banning abortions after six weeks, before many pregnancies are detected, said John Stemberger, an Orlando attorney and director of the Florida Family Policy Council, an anti-abortion advocacy group. But he said he is uncertain whether that is possible even with what may be the most conservative Legislature in a decade. “I know the governor wants to do something that is more protective, and his office is weighing what to do,’’ he said. “The question is how much political capital he will use to make this a priority.”
Stemberger predicted that “the most likely thing to happen is a heartbeat bill” because that would put Florida in line with states to the north that have either banned all abortions or banned them after six weeks of gestation. “But of course leadership is key,’’ he said. “I think Renner would support a heartbeat bill, as would the governor, but the question is: Will the Senate president?”
After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, DeSantis issued a statement praising the decision on states’ jurisdiction over abortion regulations and promised that Florida “will work to expand pro-life protections.” He provided no specifics. But DeSantis has also not repeated a promise he made when campaigning in 2018 that he would sign a so-called “heartbeat” bill. On Friday, Griffin would only say that DeSantis is “proud of the 15-week pro-life protections that he signed into law in April, as a baby in gestation beyond 15 weeks is fully formed, can feel pain, and has a heartbeat.”
He was smart enough not to run on abortion this time but that doesn’t mean he won’t do it. He’s going to be battling for the evangelicals with Donald Trump. Do you think he won’t have to make his position clear with them? ,
67% of Florida voters want abortion to remain legal, which includes 52% of Republicans and 63 % of independents. But DeSantis isn’t running for Florida anymore. He’s running for the Republican nomination for president (whether in 24 or 28.) He has a choice to make.
[…]
Achieving the 15-week abortion ban was a tumultuous journey for lawmakers last spring, as lawmakers from both parties gave tearful speeches in debate, protesters disrupted multiple hearings and lawmakers divided mostly along party lines in the final vote to approve it. The measure was signed into law by DeSantis and soon challenged in court, as plaintiffs argued it violates Florida’s constitutional right to privacy.
A circuit court judge ruled the law violated the 1989 court ruling that Florida’s right to privacy — which is enshrined in the state Constitution — protects abortion rights, and blocked the law. An hour later, the DeSantis administration appealed the ruling and it was automatically nullified. The challenge now is pending before the Florida Supreme Court, and DeSantis has said that his goal is to get the court to overturn the past decisions that established the constitutional right to privacy as a right to abortion.
That would seem to be a big mistake. But I’m not sure he has any choice. The Republican base wants these laws in place and they are going to back the leaders who follow through. And as we’ve seen in this election, that’s is a losing proposition.
Good luck with this Ron. You’ve got a tiger by the tail and it’s going to come back to bite you. Donald Trump will have no problem telling the base that he’s for banning all abortions. Why, he even thinks women should be punished for having them. It’s one of the things they love about him the most. And Ron knows it.