Planned Parenthood Votes Statement on Ron DeSantis Presidential Run

WASHINGTON — Today, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is expected to announce his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president. DeSantis has a long anti-abortion record, including signing a six-week abortion ban last month. Jenny Lawson, the executive director of Planned Parenthood Votes, responded to his announcement:

“Ron DeSantis’ governorship has been an unmitigated disaster for Floridians, and his candidacy is a grave threat to every American’s reproductive freedom. He’s shown time and time again that he will put himself and his political ambitions over anything and everyone — including the health and lives of Floridians. While Floridians demand affordable health care and safer communities, DeSantis has pushed policies that endanger Florida’s future. Voters in Florida don’t support his anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ+ agenda, and DeSantis will soon learn that the rest of the country doesn’t, either. Everyone will see him for the dangerous, out-of-touch, overzealous politician he is. Planned Parenthood Votes will make sure of it.”

Last month, DeSantis signed an abortion ban in the middle of the night, rightfully afraid of the backlash. The media and donors took notice:

Politico: DeSantis could be walking into a general election trap on abortion
Washington Post: How DeSantis backed a six-week abortion ban — while barely talking about it
New Republic: Ron DeSantis Knows Just How Unpopular His Abortion Ban Is
NY Magazine: Is ‘God’s Fighter’ Ron DeSantis Afraid of His Own Abortion Ban?

And he quickly followed the new abortion ban with a slate of hateful laws attacking LGBTQ+ people, especially youth. DeSantis has focused on making Florida more dangerous for its young people, banning lifesaving gender-affirming care for minors, stopping educators from acknowledging students’ stated pronouns, and censoring curricula and library materials. In DeSantis’s Florida, health care providers can now broadly discriminate and deny people care on the basis of gender identity and sexuality, and anyone can order a transgender person to leave a public restroom — or else face criminal charges.

Ron DeSantis’ record of hate is long: praising the overturning of Roe v. Wade, saying the decision “answered the prayers of millions;” signing a 15-week abortion ban; suspending an elected prosecutor for refusing to enforce the abortion ban; ordering medical boards to ban gender-affirming care; barring transgender kids from playing school sports; voting to defund Planned Parenthood and overturn parts of the Affordable Care Act multiple times, and more.

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Planned Parenthood Votes is an independent expenditure political committee registered with the Federal Election Commission.