Ron DeSantis, who is a horrible pro-torture fascist (and who is probably running for president) just signed a bill into law that would ban abortions in Florida after the 6-week mark except in cases of rape or incest—those get banned after 15 weeks. Horrifying fact: Most people find out they are pregnant at weeks four through seven, so this has terrifying implications for receiving medically necessary care if you happen to be pregnant in Florida.
“We are proud to support life and family in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said in a statement, per NBC News. “I applaud the Legislature for passing the Heartbeat Protection Act that expands pro-life protections and provides additional resources for young mothers and families.”
First and foremost, this is not “pro-life,” this is anti-choice and anti-medical autonomy, let’s get that straight. Second, this is a losing stance, which explains why this horrible excuse for a human being pushed this law through without much fanfare on a Thursday afternoon and quietly announced it at 11 pm.
In this photo op that might make you feel ill, you can see DeSantis signing the bill into law, surrounded by a roomful of giddy (almost without exception) white women cheering him on, because they know their access to health care is always secure. For a certain type of white woman in this country, they don’t want autonomy for all, they just want a bigger slice of the oppression pie to lord over everyone else.
The fact of the matter is, being anti-abortion loses Republicans elections, and they all know it now. You can take some pleasure in knowing that it has now lost DeSantis a mega-wealthy donor, too.
See, ultra-rich and ulta-right donor Thomas Peterffy has announced that he and his other mega-rich conservative toady friends won’t be giving DeSantis any money because of his stance on abortion and book-banning. Per Huffpost:
“I have put myself on hold,” the billionaire founder of Interactive Brokers Group Inc. told the Financial Times in an article published Saturday.
“Because of his stance on abortion and book banning . . . myself, and a bunch of friends, are holding our powder dry,” Peterffy explained.
First and foremost, what kind of dystopian capitalist hellscape are we living in when billionaires are giving interviews to publications about what politicians they are buying, sorry, donating to? Does anyone else feel like something is deeply wrong in this country? Thanks to Citizens United for allowing unlimited dark money in politics, but I digress.
Let’s not fool ourselves into thinking Peterffy is an ally here, or on the right side of history with abortion (what billionaire ever is?), I think he just understands that abortion loses elections and thus doesn’t want to waste money on anyone who is so anti-choice that they’ll get trampled in a general election. Sure DeSantis gets elected in Florida, but that’s Florida. America is pro-choice to the tune of 85%. Good luck running on a platform of being so anti-choice that you ban abortions before most people know they’re pregnant. I’m sure that will absolutely win in the swing states like Wisconsin, Ron, that just elected a very pro-choice State Supreme Court Judge who is about to undo years of Republican gerrymandering. Even voters in red states like Kansas and Kentucky are turning up at the polls en masse when abortion access is on the line. Attacking reproductive rights is not a winning strategy!
DeSantis signing this absolutely horrific bill isn’t going unnoticed. The White House put out a statement on it, so clearly they want to link DeSantis to a very restrictive abortion law and want the entire country to know exactly who he is and what he stands for. Per NBC News:
Florida’s proposed six-week ban quickly attracted the attention of the White House, a clear signal President Joe Biden sees it as a useful political grist against DeSantis, whom he has been publicly feuding with for months.
“The President and Vice President believe women should be able to make healthcare decisions with their doctors and families — free from political interference,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement when the bill was filed in March. “They are committed to protecting access to reproductive care, and continue to call on Congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law.”
DeSantis is a dangerous idealogue, fascist, and anti-choice monster. Just because he’s picked to die on the hill of abortion, which has been demonstrated to be a losing battle, doesn’t mean anyone can get complacent, here. After all, the Republicans have demonstrated time and time again they are very happy to strip away rights when no one is looking.
(featured image: Chris duMond/Getty Images)
