DeSantis accuses Trump of flip-flopping on abortion

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) accused former President Trump of flip-flopping his position on abortion Tuesday at a CNN town hall in Iowa. 

DeSantis cited Trump’s speech at the annual March for Life in 2020, in which the then-president said every child is a gift from God. 

“Was he not being honest in January of 2020? Or has he just flipped his position to now what he’s saying in 2023?” DeSantis said. “I think that’s a huge problem, because we know people come at this from different angles. 

“But you should be consistent on your beliefs,” he added. 

DeSantis was referring to Trump’s criticism of six-week abortion bans. Trump has called DeSantis’s own six-week abortion ban in Florida “a terrible mistake.” 

The governor’s comments follow legal drama in Texas surrounding a woman who was seeking an abortion in the state. The woman’s fetus was diagnosed with a condition called trisomy 18, a chromosomal anomaly that leads to miscarriage, stillbirth or the death of the infant within hours, days or weeks after birth.

In a lawsuit, the mother, Kate Cox, said continuing the pregnancy to full-term could negatively impact her own health and ability to have children in the future. Cox left the state to obtain an abortion this week, and the Texas Supreme Court rejected her challenge to the state’s ban. 

When asked about the situation in Texas, DeSantis called it “difficult” and touted Florida’s abortion ban, which has exceptions.

“We’ve got to approach these issues with compassion, because these are very difficult issues,” DeSantis said. “If you’re in that situation as a mother, that’s an incredibly difficult thing to have to deal with.”