Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a new draconian "Heartbeat Protection Act" into law which bans abortions after 6 weeks and forces victims to show proof of rape or incest to get an exception.
April 15, 2023

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a new draconian "Heartbeat Protection Act" into law which bans abortions after 6 weeks and forces victims to show proof of rape or incest to get an exception. Good luck with that presidential run there Ron:

On Thursday, DeSantis announced that he signed the Heartbeat Protection Act into law, which will now require a woman to provide proof that the pregnancy was a result of rape, incest or human trafficking in order to receive an abortion up until 15 weeks of gestation. Documentation can include a restraining order, police report, medical record or other evidence.

This restriction is an exception to the new law, which states that otherwise, abortions will be banned after six weeks unless done to save a pregnant person's life.

"We are proud to support life and family in the state of Florida," DeSantis, 44, said in a news release.

"I applaud the Legislature for passing the Heartbeat Protection Act that expands pro-life protections and provides additional resources for young mothers and families," he added.

As Digby noted:

He’s supporting the family members who rape their daughters, that’s for sure. And any rape victim who doesn’t properly document her assault like a good little bureaucrat will just have to bear her rapists child. Paperwork is very important.

That’s what supporting life and family means in the state of Florida.

She also wondered why he thinks getting to the right of Trump on this issue will help him with anyone other than his rabid base in a presidential election.

DeSantis claimed to be "proud" to sign the legislation, but if that's truly the case, why did he sign the bill in the dead of night?

“DeSantis or any other [presidential] nominee signing a six-week ban is starting with a losing hand,” said David Jolly, a former Republican congressman from St. Petersburg and co-founder of the Forward Party.

The governor “knows this is a double-edged sword,” added Mac Stipanovich, a Tallahassee consultant. “He wouldn’t have signed it in private if he didn’t know the consequences.”

[...]

DeSantis’ office sent out a news release shortly after 11 p.m. Thursday with a picture showing legislative leaders and about 40 other people cheering as he signed the bill in his office. Lawmakers had given final approval to the measure several hours before and sent the bill to him at 9 p.m.

The office then sent out an updated schedule noting that the bill signing occurred at 10:45 p.m. Earlier, DeSantis was in Ohio on Thursday promoting his book and speaking at a Republican dinner function.

“We are proud to support life and family in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said in the news release. “I applaud the Legislature for passing the Heartbeat Protection Act that expands pro-life protections and provides additional resources for young mothers and families.”

Spokespeople for the governor did not respond to a request for further comment Friday.

The quiet signing was in contrast to the hundreds of people who attended a public ceremony when DeSantis signed the 15-week bill at the Nación de Fe church in Kissimmee on April 14, 2022.

It’s the second major legislation he’s approved behind closed doors this month. On April 3, he signed a bill allowing concealed carry of weapons in the state without a permit.

As another pundit in the Orlando Sentinel article noted:

“Clearly he did not feel that this issue was going to help him politically,” Jewett said. “[But] in trying to avoid publicity, he’s done it in such a way as to attract quite a bit of publicity.”

The media has been treating this guy like he's some sort of political genius for some time now in the hope that he's going to knock Trump out of the race. So far, I'm not seeing what the hype is about. He just looks like another stupid bully to me. I'm hoping most reasonable Americans have had enough of that after Trump.

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