PHX Reporter

Cathi Herrod, president of the Phoenix, Ariz.-based Center for Arizona Policy (CAP) criticized former President Donald Trump’s for calling Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R-Fla.) signing of a 6-week abortion ban a “terrible mistake.”

“Former President Donald Trump has abandoned the pro-life movement,” Herrod posted on X, sharing an excerpt of Trump’s appearance earlier today on “Meet the Press.” “Watch this in its entirety. He criticizes Ron DeSantis for signing the heartbeat bill."

"Unacceptable, "wrote Herrod. “Time to move on.”

When “Meet the Press” interviewer Kristen Welker asked Trump if he would support the “heartbeat” legislation signed by DeSantis, Trump said, “I think what he (DeSantis) did is a terrible thing and a terrible mistake.”

DeSantis signed “The Heartbeat Protection Act” on April 13, 2023. That bill “prohibits abortions once the unborn child has a detectible heartbeat,” said a press release from the governor’s office.  

The law prohibits “physicians from knowingly performing or inducing a termination of pregnancy after the gestational age of the fetus is determined to be more than 6 weeks, rather than 15 weeks,” according to the Florida Senate's description of the bill.

CAP is a nonprofit advocacy group whose mission is “to promote and defend the foundational values of life, marriage and family, and religious freedom,” according to the group’s website. Herrod originally joined the organization in 1997 as its legal counsel.