Culture and Social Issues

Pro-Life Students Eye DeSantis For 2024 Presidential Bid: POLL

No featured image available

Students attending the Students for Life (SFL) National Pro-Life Summit Saturday overwhelmingly backed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for the 2024 presidential election, according to a poll shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The National Pro-Life Summit, an annual conference for pro-life college and high school students, hosted speakers and workshops Saturday for a sold-out crowd of 2,000. Kristan Hawkins, SFL president, announced that 53.73% of voters at the summit backed DeSantis, with former President Donald Trump obtaining only 19.22% of the votes, according to the results of a straw poll shared with the DCNF.

“The Youth vote is now one-third of the electorate, and for the first Post-Roe Generation, expectations are high that candidates will compete to show their commitment to protecting life in law and in service,” Hawkins stated. “Pro-life voters are looking for a passionate defense of mother and child and a commitment to act. A throwaway line in a speech will not cut it with the Pro-Life Generation.”

BREAKING DeSantis Wins First in the Season Straw Poll at National ProLife Summit by Kate on Scribd

Trump announced that he was running for office on Nov. 15, 2022, only a week after a midterm showing for Republicans that many critics argued was underwhelming; Trump later blamed the GOP for pushing too far on abortion issues, despite being the first president to attend the March for Life in 2020. While DeSantis has not yet announced a presidential run, some high-profile figures have already endorsed the Sunshine State governor, including Tesla and Twitter CEO Elon Musk.

DeSantis has said he was looking to expand “pro-life protections” in the state after the Supreme Court overturned. Roe v. Wade.

“The prayers of millions have been answered. For nearly fifty years, the U.S. Supreme Court has prohibited virtually any meaningful pro-life protection, but this was not grounded in the text, history or structure of our Constitution,” DeSantis said in a press conference after the Supreme Court’s decision. “By properly interpreting the Constitution, the Dobbs majority has restored the people’s role in our republic and a sense of hope that every life counts.”

Vice President Mike Pence came in third in the poll at 7.48%, while former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley came in fourth with 1.57% of the votes. Students at the conference also indicated that they wanted Congress to focus on legislation that would protect life at fertilization/conception at 94.51%.

DeSantis, Pence, Haley and Trump did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.