Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), a Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential election, said Thursday during a CNN town hall that his rival for the nomination, former President Donald Trump, is not pro-life.
“States obviously have a major role to play in this, because that's what American history was all about up until 1973, so states like Iowa enacted heartbeat laws,” DeSantis said. Florida enacted a heartbeat bill. Other states are doing other things. I think that's the situation this country is in right now. So we especially He will be a defender of states' rights. This primary is divisive, with Donald Trump saying pro-life protections are a “terrible thing” even at the state level. And he said this in reference to a bill like the one Iowa did, the Heartbeat bill. This is a man who participated in the March for Life in January 2020 and said that all life is a gift from God. He said that the unborn child was created in the image of God. He said he needed protection. That's what he said when he was president of the March for Life. Now he's saying this is terrible, terrible. ”
He further added: Did he flip out? Did he not believe it at the time? But he went further and said he would actually elevate the issue to the federal government. What he wants to do is find the time, but I think he thought 18 or 20 weeks was the limit. But then, if the state has more protection than that, we revoke it. Well, that doesn't advance the cause of life. So I think for pro-life voters in Iowa, Donald Trump has a very different position than what he professed to believe when he first ran for president in 2016. ”
Host Caitlan Collins said, “Do you think Donald Trump is not pro-life?”
“Of course not,” DeSantis said. I mean, when you say pro-life protections are a terrible thing, by definition you're not pro-life. If you say you want to enact a federal law to do it at 18 or 20 weeks, that would mean more abortions, not fewer abortions.Abortions are rarely performed that late anyway. So he flipped out on this issue. I don't know if it's because of political expediency or if this is what he always believed. But the problem is that some The problem is pretty fundamental: How do you overturn something like the sanctity of life?”
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