As a new election season begins, the Republican Party is struggling to navigate the politics of abortion.

Allies of leading presidential candidates admit that their tough anti-abortion policies may be popular with the conservatives who rule the primary, but they could ultimately alienate the broader electorate they need to win the presidency.

The conflict is unfolding across America

this week

, but nowhere more so than in Florida, where Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed one of the nation’s strictest abortion bans late Thursday. If the courts eventually allow the new measure to go into effect, it will soon be illegal for Florida women to have an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, before most even realize they are pregnant.

Even before he signed into law, DeSantis’ team was keen to emphasize his willingness to fight for and enforce aggressive abortion restrictions. The Florida governor’s stance is in stark contrast, they say, with some hopeful Republican White House candidates, notably former President Trump, downplaying their support for anti-abortion policies for fear they will end up targeting women or other swing voters. alienate in the 2024 general election.

“Unlike Trump, Governor DeSantis is not shy about defending the lives of innocent unborn babies,” said Erin Perrine, a spokesperson for DeSantis super PAC, when asked about Florida’s six-week ban.

DeSanti’s latest policy victory in the nation’s third-most populous state provides a new window into the Republican parties’ ongoing political challenges on the explosive social issue. In the past few days alone, Republican leaders in Iowa, New Hampshire and Washington have struggled to answer nagging questions about their opposition to the

controversial

medical procedure as GOP-controlled state legislators scramble to enact a wave of new abortion restrictions.

Recent election results suggest that voters are not satisfied.

Republicans have suffered painful losses in recent weeks and months in Michigan, New Hampshire, Nevada and even scarlet Kansas in elections that focused, at least in part, on abortion.

Last week This month

in Wisconsin, an anti-abortion candidate for the state Supreme Court was defeated by 11

percentage

points in a state that carried President Biden by less than 1

period of time.

Any talk of banning or limiting abortion nationwide is an electoral disaster for Republicans, the New Hampshire governor said. Chris Sununu, a Republican who describes himself as pro-choice, but also signed a bill banning abortion after 24 weeks in the state.

The Republican Party is unable to get rid of this issue in a way that doesn’t deter the average voter, the independent voter, the younger generation of voters,” Sununu continued. an ultra-right base that really doesn’t define most of the Republican Party.

At least privately, strategists involved in Republican presidential campaigns admit that the GOP is on the wrong side of the current debate. while

The problem is

popular with Republican primary voters, public polls consistently show that the broader set of voters deciding general elections believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

There are no easy answers, as leading Republicans like DeSantis and even Trump, who appointed the Supreme Court justices responsible for overturning Roe vs. Wade last June, under tremendous political pressure from the left and right.

Anti-abortion activists, in particular, have warned Republican presidential candidates that the party’s base will not tolerate any weakness on the abortion front, as GOP leaders have vowed for decades to ban abortion rights if given the chance.

For

this

last week, Kristan Hawkins, the president of the anti-abortion group

,

Students for Life of America were unwilling to describe DeSantis as a leader in the abortion fight.

This is his chance to show himself as a leader in this field. That’s what’s exciting about this moment, Hawkins said of DeSantis’ six-week ban. He has done a lot, but we really needed to see action at the legislative level. I think this heartbeat law fully confirms his pro-life street credo.

Katie Daniel’s

the anti-abortion

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America described Florida’s new law as a huge step forward.” But she said it was just the beginning of what anti-abortion activists expect from the 2024 leading candidates, including their eventual support for a national abortion ban.

The issue of abortion is not going away,” Daniel said. It’s not about saying you passed the law, tick the box, you’re done.

Such pressure ensures that the issue will remain central to the 2024 campaign as prospects for the Republican president begin to fan out to primary voters across America. At the same time, an escalating lawsuit over access to an FDA-approved abortion pill is forcing GOP leaders to answer more questions.

Former Vice President Mike Pence, long an outspoken opponent of abortion, denounced the abortion pill in a recent interview

this week

with Newsmax while pledging to defend the right to life.

We will continue to champion the interests of born and unborn women and continue to oppose the abortion pill, Pence said.

Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley told Iowa voters

this last one

week that abortion is a personal matter that should be left to the states, though she left open the possibility of a federal ban without going into details.

And in New Hampshire, just a day after launching a presidential exploratory commission, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott expressed support for a federal law that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy nationwide.

“We should certainly always side with a culture that preserves, values ​​and respects life,” Scott told reporters. How do we do that? I definitely think the 20 week threshold isn’t a question at all in my mind.

He repeatedly tried to refocus the conversation on the Democrats’ radical stance on the issue, as they generally oppose any form of abortion restriction.

New Hampshire governor Sununu said he considers Scott a friend, but was surprised to see him openly support a federal abortion ban in New Hampshire, a state long known for supporting abortion rights.

Of all the places to talk about a federal ban on abortion, New Hampshire isn’t, Sununu said in an interview. He’s a good candidate and doing great in the Senate. But know your audience here, man.

Republican officials in Washington are also still looking for answers.

Ronna McDaniel, chair of the Republican National Committee, declined to comment on this article. Her team pointed to a seven-month-old memo from her office that suggested Republicans should emphasize Democratic officials’ opposition to any form of abortion restriction, which the memo described as an extreme position.

However, after the GOP’s interim disappointment last fall, Republicans are increasingly concerned that such messages may not be enough to diminish the Democrats’ advantage, especially as Republicans continue to enforce strict abortion restrictions in key states.

Republican strategist Alice Stewart said Republicans need to find a way to keep their focus on the failure of the Biden administration, the economy, crime and education in the 2024 campaign.

Abortion poses a challenge to Republicans. There’s no denying it, said Stewart, who initially applauded the Supreme Court’s Roe reversal. It has become politically problematic.

Campaigning in Iowa

this last one

week, former governor of Arkansas. Asa Hutchinson tried to avoid questions about his support for aggressive abortion restrictions. Before leaving office earlier this year, he signed into law a law banning abortion after six weeks of pregnancy; the law had an exception for the mother’s life, but not for rape or incest.

Hutchinson said voters are more concerned about national defense, curbing domestic federal spending and accelerating US energy production than abortion.

I don’t see that as a problem that will hurt us in the long run, Hutchinson said, referring to strict abortion bans. He didn’t say whether he would sign a six- or 15-week federal ban if he came to office as president. I’ve always signed pro-life bills that have come to me, but of course I’d like to review the bill.

And even in DeSantis’ Florida, there are signs that the ambitious Republican governor is approaching the issue with some caution.

Almost exactly one year ago, a smiling DeSantis signed a 15-week abortion ban into law in a raucous public ceremony flanked by Republican lawmakers with dozens of cheering supporters in the audience.

This last one

week he privately signed the six-week ban. His office issued a press release shortly before midnight to mark the achievement.

And he completely ignored the historic achievement on Friday when he gave a speech to religious conservative Liberty University. He did the same Friday night in New Hampshire when he cast himself and Florida as the nation’s leaders on a slew of important issues, but didn’t mention abortion or the law he signed into law the night before.

Florida GOP chairman Christian Ziegler dismissed any political concerns by pointing to DeSantis’ landslide re-election last fall.

“I think it’s very hard for someone to say that the governor who is executing a conservative agenda is going to hurt them,” Ziegler said.

___Associated Press writers Thomas Beaumont in Des Moines, Iowa and Holly Ramer in Concord, New Hampshire contributed to this report.