Busted: Miami newspaper cracks the 'real story' on DeSantis’ abortion tale

Florida Republican governor and 2024 GOP candidate Ron DeSantis told an abortion story during the Wednesday, August 23 GOP debate that critics claim was "wildly embellished," according to a Saturday, August 26 Miami Herald report.

"I know a lady in Florida named Penny," DeSantis said. "She survived multiple abortion attempts. She was left discarded in a pan. Fortunately, her grandmother saved her and brought her to another hospital."

Miami Herald reports:

Penny is real and her last name is Hopper. But DeSantis failed to note key details from her remarkable story: The person who tried to end Penny's life in the womb was not a doctor or even an illegal abortion provider — it was her father. And his effort to abort his daughter with a coat hanger took place almost two decades before the Supreme Court's seismic Roe v. Wade decision, which established a woman's right to an abortion.

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The report also notes, "It could not be determined whether Hopper had been contacted by the DeSantis campaign, whether the campaign vetted her story or if she knew it would be told to a national television audience.

A family member told the newspaper that "She doesn't want to be used as a political pawn," as "Hopper prefers to work quietly behind the scenes to help those she sees as victims of botched abortions."

Marc Hearron, senior counsel for the Center for Reproductive Rights told Miami Herald, "Banning abortion doesn't stop people from needing or seeking abortions. It just leads to abortions outside the formal healthcare system.…This story bears no resemblance to today's reality."

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Miami Herald's full report is available at this link (subscription required).