Fact check: DeSantis falsely claims ‘no pro-lifer has ever argued’ to jail a woman for getting an abortion

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis falsely claimed last week that “no pro-lifer has ever argued” that a woman should be jailed for getting an abortion.

DeSantis made the claim while criticizing a rival for the Republican presidential nomination, Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and US ambassador to the United Nations. DeSantis and Haley have sparred more frequently in recent weeks as they have battled to become the top alternative to former President Donald Trump, who holds a big lead in opinion polls of the party primary.

At a Thursday event at Winthrop College in South Carolina, DeSantis was asked if he took exception to anything Haley has been advocating on abortion-related policy, such as banning “late-term” abortions, encouraging adoptions, ensuring access to contraception and making sure women are not jailed for having an abortion.

DeSantis scoffed at Haley’s comments about preventing women from being jailed.

“Well, look, I mean, of course you’re not going to jail a woman. No pro-lifer has ever argued for that,” DeSantis said in remarks his campaign subsequently posted on social media.

DeSantis continued, “So when she’s saying that, she’s indulging media narratives. That’s a narrative; that’s not how it is. We have a heartbeat bill in Florida; has nothing to do with putting a woman – it’s ridiculous that that would even be mentioned. So I think she’s playing in to some of the stereotypes that the left uses against conservatives. Don’t accept the media narrative.”

Facts First: DeSantis’ claim that “no pro-lifer has ever argued” to jail women for getting an abortion is not true. Some opponents of abortion rights, including a group of party lawmakers in the South Carolina state House this year, have pushed for the passage of laws that would treat women who get abortions as murderers and subject them…