GOP governors who passed abortion bans hit Trump for calling restrictions ‘a terrible thing’

Staunchly anti-abortion Republican governors who have shepherded abortion restrictions in their states are piling on to Donald Trump for his recent comment labeling Florida’s six-week abortion ban “a terrible thing.”

“It’s never a ‘terrible thing’ to protect innocent life,” Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds posted Tuesday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “I’m proud of the fetal heartbeat bill the Iowa legislature passed and I signed in 2018 and again earlier this year.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp also made similar comments Tuesday, highlighting the state leaders’ focus on restricting access to the procedure. Trump, looking toward a general election as he runs away with the Republican primary race, appears to be attempting to thread the needle on the issue. While he helped cement a conservative Supreme Court majority that gutted abortion rights, he appears to be skeptical of leaning further right on the issue — especially when he can use his position to draw contrast with DeSantis, the second-polling candidate in the field.