Roe downfall a win for anti-abortion social conservatives, but GOP divided on restrictions

Charlene Lewis stood among a crowd of 50 others, expressing sadness and grief in prayer, on a recent morning in front of West Palm Beach's Planned Parenthood clinic, which performs abortions.

"I just think it's so important that we emphasize the preciousness of life and how important it is — if we let each child have the chance," said Lewis, a retired Realtor who lives on Singer Island, belongs to a Roman Catholic church and votes Republican.

Last June, Lewis and others thought that "chance" had been guaranteed. That's when a conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the 49-year-old Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion in the United States.

But a year later, the fruits of that judicial victory for activists like Lewis and the other 50 or so who joined her last month seem much less clear. Florida passed a six-week abortion ban this past spring, but that law, like a 15-week ban approved last year, is stalled while the Florida Supreme Court weighs its constitutionality.

Even fuzzier are prospects for a national abortion ban, and a seemingly longshot desire for the complete ban on pregnancy terminations that most fervent anti-abortion advocates, like Lewis, seek.

In fact, since the overturning of Roe, there is still little political consensus. Instead, it is creating a wedge between Republicans and social conservatives themselves. The united front that Republicans have generally had on the abortion issue in past decades has fractured over whether reproductive rights should be determined by states, at what stage of gestation a pregnancy could be ended, and which exceptions will be permitted from bans.

Polls show Americans don't side with the strict restrictions or constraints on reproductive rights that have followed since Roe's rejection.

Where's abortion heading in Florida?: The abortion landscape has changed nationwide with state bans, uncertain future for Florida

Post-Roe abortion restrictions dividing pro-life Republicans nationally, and in Florida

The question of abortion rights remains contentious nationwide, challenging each voter's personal beliefs, whether on religious, moral, ethical, health or financial grounds.

An AP-NORC nationwide poll, conducted in late June with 1,220 adults, found that only about 10% of those polled wanted abortion to be illegal in all cases. A 19th News/SurveyMonkey online poll conducted at the end of August, with a sample of 20,191 adults, showed that just 9% of Americans believe that abortions should be banned in all circumstances and close to 63% of those polled said that abortion should be lawful in most or all cases.

No less than former President Donald Trump, the leading GOP White House candidate, has taken note.

“In order to win in 2024, Republicans must learn how to talk about Abortion," Trump wrote in a social media post last month. "This issue cost us unnecessarily, but dearly, in the Midterms.”

Trump took the matter even further in an interview on NBC News on Sept. 14 in which he blasted the six-week abortion ban in Florida as a "terrible mistake." Trump has said he believes abortion restrictions must include three exceptions — for rape, incest, and the life of the mother.

"Without the exceptions, it is very difficult to win Elections, we would probably lose the Majorities in 2024, and perhaps the Presidency itself," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform Sept. 19.

Trump's claim drew a blistering response from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who signed the state's six-week ban and is running in the 2024 presidential primary.

"I reject this idea that pro-lifers are to blame for midterm defeats," DeSantis said during the GOP presidential debate Sept. 27 which Trump skipped. “(Trump) should be here explaining his comments, to try to say that pro-life protections are somehow a terrible thing. I want him to look into the eyes and tell people who have been fighting this fight for a long time."

Caruso, on his abortion vote: "We just never found out that early": Republican Mike Caruso on his no-vote on abortion

The political divisiveness has been evident across Florida. While the GOP-dominated Legislature passed the six-week ban, seven Republicans broke ranks to vote against the measure.

Of those, three were Palm Beach County Republican state representatives; notable because of the inroads Republicans have made in the formerly Democrat-majority county. One of the no votes was by West Palm Beach state Rep. Mike Caruso, who later said six weeks was too early and that the law "pretty much takes that out of most people's hands."

Nonetheless, state Rep. Webster Barnaby, R-Deltona, said at a Tallahassee anti-abortion rally that he intended to sponsor a comprehensive measure that would ban all abortions.

Trump's rush to the middle on abortion not popular. But will it cost him votes?

The participants gathered outside the Planned Parenthood last month did not encounter anyone entering the facility, or seek to stop anyone from entering it. They prayed and listened to speeches from religious leaders and sang along with a man who played a guitar.

Charlene Sherry, who was wearing a shirt reading "Pro-Lifers 4 Trump," said she was saddened by Trump's recent statements, and now could not say for sure whether it would change her mind about casting a vote for him next year.

"Probably not. I don't know yet," Sherry said when asked if Trump's abortion views would change her vote.

No-vote to abortion: 'The right vote': Three Palm Beach County Republicans vote against six-week abortion ban

In part, she said, because DeSantis also seems too measured.

"I wish he'd (DeSantis) go all the way because I believe in life," Sherry said of a total ban. "None of us would be here without those first steps."

The gathering was organized by Willy Guardiola, the leader of Pro-Lifers 4 Trump, who organizes large rallies in support of the former president.

Guardiola, who has been promoting an anti-abortion amendment called the Human Life Protection Amendment, also is a leader in anti-abortion activism in Palm Beach County. He regularly attends events held by Trump and his campaign.

The amendment, which would need 891,523 signatures to be on the ballot, currently had 19,920 signatures in the Florida Division of Elections database. It describes the right of a "pre-born individual" to not have any part of their development infringed.

Guardiola supports a total abortion ban and said the downfall of Roe v. Wade was "the biggest victory for pro-lifers" after 50 years of activism. Yet now that Trump is saying a six-week ban is too much, Guardiola worries the movement could be divided.

"We all have to be on the same page," Guardiola said. "I know that Trump is pro-life, but he sent out a really bad message and a lot of people really took it the wrong way, especially the big pro-life leaders."

Even though polling suggests the demand for a total ban is well outside the mainstream, Guardiola said he accepts that there will be resistance "every time you fight to protect the unborn," but that it does not stop his activism.

"I'm not here to fight abortion. I'm here to ban abortion," Guardiola said. "Once we get that message across, we have to ban abortion."

Stephany Matat is a politics reporter for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY-Florida network. Reach her at smatat@pbpost.com. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Abortion restrictions leave GOP divided after Roe v Wade decision