Will Abortion Bans Cause a Backlash Against the GOP Come 2024?

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In Tallahassee, Florida, the Republican party is facing a tricky situation before the presidential elections start. The plans of the leading presidential hopefuls are to make strict anti-abortion laws which will be supported by conservative voters in the primaries but could become unpopular in general during other stages of the campaigns.

This week in America there is a big fight going on, but especially in Florida. The governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, just signed a new law which will make it illegal for women to get an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. Most women don’t even realize they are pregnant by then!

Before signing the law, Governor DeSantis wanted everyone to know that he was very supportive of strict abortion laws. This really sets him apart from other Republican candidates who want to become president in 2024, like Donald Trump. Some people think those Republican White House hopefuls are trying to avoid talking about their anti-abortion opinions, because they don’t want female or undecided voters to be against them.

Erin Perrine, who works for Governor DeSantis’ super PAC (Political Action Committee), said that unlike President Trump, the Governor does not back down from defending fetuses and babies in their mother’s womb. She made this comment when asked about a six-week ban in Florida.

Recently, the Republican Party in the US has been facing a lot of questions about their stance on abortion. To make matters worse, some states that are ruled by Republicans have passed laws to try and limit abortions. Governor DeSantis’ latest success in the third most populous state gives us an idea of the political challenges that Republicans now face over this important social issue.

It looks like voters have been unhappy with recent election results. Republicans, especially, have lost a lot of votes recently in places such as Michigan, New Hampshire, and Nevada – even ones that usually vote Republican. Last week in Wisconsin, a person trying to be on the state Supreme Court who was against abortion got defeated by 11 points- though President Joe Biden barely won there.

New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, who identifies as “pro-choice” but enforced a law stopping abortions after 24 weeks in the state, warned that for Republicans it is bad politically to talk about banning or reducing abortion on a national level.

John Sununu said that Republican Party has not been able to convince people to agree with their views. He believes this is because they keep coming up with ideas that only appeal to an extreme group in their party, rather than the majority of Republicans.

People involved with Republican presidential campaigns know that most voters do not agree with their stance on abortion. Although some Republicans do support it, a majority of people who will ultimately decide the elections are in favor of keeping abortion legal in all or most cases.

It is hard to decide what to do because leading Republicans like DeSantis and Trump are having a lot of political pressure from both the left and the right. People against abortion are saying that if given the opportunity, the Republican party should take away rights for abortion because they have been saying this for many years.

Kristan Hawkins, the president of an anti-abortion organization called Students for Life of America, was not sure if DeSantis should be considered a leader in the abortion debate before this week. But now because of DeSantis’ six-week ban on abortions, she believes he has proved himself to be an important and influential figure in this fight. According to Hawkins, “He has done a lot so far, but now that he took legislation action with the recent ‘heartbeat law’, it shows that DeSantis is definitely dedicated to protecting pro-life values.”

Katie Daniel, from an organization called Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America which is against abortion, declared that Florida’s new law is a big achievement. However, she adds that this is only the beginning and what anti-abortion activists expect from leading 2024 candidates is their help to bring in a national ban on abortion altogether.

Daniel said, “We can’t let go of this abortion issue yet! It’s not just about making sure these laws have been passed — we will have to keep up with it.”

The 2024 election will have the important topic of abortion since Republicans who want to be the President are already travelling around America speaking with voters. At the same time, some Politicians are debating if people can get a special pill approved by the FDA that stops an unwanted pregnancy – Mike Pence was one of them during a recent interview where he said he supports ‘the right to life’.

Vice President Pence said that he would try to defend the rights of unborn women. Nikki Haley, a former UN Ambassador, added that she believes decisions about abortions should be left up to each individual state and not something for the federal government to handle.

Senator Tim Scott is supporting a law that would make it illegal to have abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. He said that he believes we should protect and respect life, which is why he’s in support of this law.

He tried over and over again to get people to talk about the Democrats’ opinion on this issue, since most of them don’t agree with any limitations or rules around abortion.

The governor of New Hampshire, Sununu, said he’s friends with Scott but was taken aback when he started talking in support of a law banning abortion across the state; New Hampshire is known for allowing abortions.

Sununu said in a interview that it’s not the right place to talk about banning abortion. He said the candidate is good and does great work in the Senate, but suggested he should know his audience better. Also, Republican officials in Washington are still trying to figure it out.

Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel wouldn’t comment for the article. Her team referred to a memo from her office – seven months old – that recommends Republicans emphasize Democratic leaders not agreeing with abortion rules of any sort, which the memo labeled as “very extreme”.

After the Republicans didn’t get the results they wanted during last year’s elections, they’re worried that just talking about their beliefs won’t be good enough to stop the Democrats from winning. So Republican strategist Alice Stewart said that in order to do well in 2024, Republicans should focus on how President Biden is doing at his job, people’s finances, safety and schooling.

Stewart said that abortion has become a difficult issue for people who are part of the Republican Party. He was happy when the highest court in the United States, called the Supreme Court, changed its decision on Roe, which is related to abortion laws. Politically speaking, this change has caused problems.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who used to be the gov of Arkansas when he was in office this year tried to answer questions about his opinion on abortion. He made a law that would stop abortions after six weeks have passed. This law only allowed exceptions if it put the mother’s life in danger but not if the pregnancy is due to rape or incest.

According to Hutchinson, Americans are mainly worried about defending their country, saving money on government payments and making more energy. They don’t care much about abortion.

Hutchinson said he doesn’t think abortion bans will be much of a problem for them. He didn’t say if he would sign a federal law banning abortions after 6-15 weeks if it came to his table as president – but he did mention that he has always agreed to bills that support the anti-abortion viewpoint.

Even though Florida’s governor DeSantis is in favour of restricting abortion, they are still being careful about how they approach this issue.

One year ago, Governor DeSantis put a 15-week ban on abortions in effect with a lot of celebrating and cheering from the Republican legislators who joined him. This week, he made another law that bans abortion after 6 weeks – this time in private. He sent out a press release late at night to announce it.

On Friday, Governor DeSantis from Florida gave a speech to the religious conservative Liberty University but he didn’t mention the law that he had just signed about abortion the night before. Christian Ziegler, chairman of the Florida GOP, said it was nothing to worry about because DeSantis won really big in the last election.

Ziegler stated that it’s very difficult to say whether the governor carrying out a conservative plan will be bad for him. Thomas Beaumont in Des Moines, Iowa and Holly Ramer in Concord, New Hampshire both gave contributions.