DeSantis again deflects on pushing new abortion restrictions

Gov. Ron DeSantis doesn't seem eager to rush through new abortion restrictions in the wake of this week's bombshell report indicating that the U.S. Supreme Court may overturn abortion rights under Roe v. Wade.

Asked again Wednesday whether he is considering addressing abortion in an upcoming special session, the governor again deflected.

DeSantis called a special session later this month to address property insurance concerns. It comes on the heels of a special session last month on redistricting.

Responding to the abortion question Wednesday during an appearance in Clearwater, DeSantis noted that Florida's property insurance market is in crisis.

"The property insurance, the reason we called a special session is because it's reached a crisis point... we felt we had to do it, just like we had to do the congressional districts. We had no choice, we had to do it," DeSantis said, implying that there isn't the same urgent need to tackle abortion legislation.

A draft Supreme Court ruling that was leaked and published by Politico Monday would overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision — if it is released without any changes.

"I would just caution people, you know you can leak stuff out of a court, which is really unprecedented, but let's see when you actually have something rendered," said DeSantis. "Because how they negotiate these things, I don't think any of us really know when you get behind that, they keep it all very secretive."

DeSantis also was asked Tuesday during an appearance in the Fort Myers area about addressing abortion in a special session. He responded by pointing to the abortion bill he signed recently that outlaws the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy, noting he already has taken significant action on the abortion issue this year.

"If you look at the protections that I signed into law a couple weeks ago, those were the strongest that Florida has seen in decades," he said.

Florida Voice for the Unborn, an anti-abortion organization, wrote DeSantis Tuesday urging him to add a proposed ban on abortion to the scheduled special session.

Losing Roe's protections could animate the Democratic base and heighten the stakes for this year's mid-term races up and down the ballot in Florida, where Republicans don't appear to have the same advantage on the issue as they do in other conservative-leaning states.

A University of North Florida survey released in February found that a majority of Florida voters opposed new abortion restrictions approved by the Legislature this year.

"We're not the most pro-life state by any stretch," said UNF political science professor Michael Binder, who noted that Florida draws a lot of northern transplants and doesn't have the concentration of "traditional southern Baptists" as other southern states.

Follow Herald-Tribune Political Editor Zac Anderson on Twitter at @zacjanderson. He can be reached at zac.anderson@heraldtribune.com