A woman whose story Ron DeSantis used in the Republican primary debate to emphasize his anti-abortion stance has been revealed as a grandmother from Michigan.
DeSantis said Wednesday night that his pro-life views were shaped in part by meeting “Penny,” whose parents tried to abort her.
Many assumed the anecdote was apocryphal, but the woman was identified as anti-abortion activist Miriam “Penny” Hopper.
Her remarkable story is impossible to verify, but she has been telling for years how she was saved by her grandmother from a botched abortion in 1955.
“I know a lady in Florida named Penny,” DeSantis said.
She survived multiple abortion attempts. She was thrown away in a pan.
“Fortunately, her grandmother saved her and took her to another hospital.”
Ron DeSantis referred to a woman named ‘Penny’ who has been revealed as Miriam ‘Penny’ Hopper
DeSantis is on Wednesday night telling the audience the story of ‘Penny’
Critics seized on the story, accusing DeSantis of lying.
Steve Schmidt, founder of The Lincoln Project, wrote of X: “The story of Penny finding DeSantis in the pan is ridiculous and clearly untrue. It should be looked at by the media.’
Jill Filipovic, a journalist and author, said, “I understand that politicians lie, but DeSantis’ story about ‘Penny’, a woman who he says survived multiple abortion attempts and was rescued from a pan by her grandmother (???? ), is It’s just such a bizarre and impossible story, it’s amazing that every human being is so gullible.’
James Gibney, a reporter at Bloomberg Opinion, added, “Which reporter will Penny go looking for. DeSantis unsure about direct questions about abortion.”
Kylie Cheung, writes in JezebelHopper identified Wednesday night and Friday The New York Times further details published.
Hopper appeared in a 2020 pro-life campaign video and told her story, explaining how the story was based on what her family told her.
There seems to be no documentation to confirm this, and those involved – her mother, aunt, father and grandmother – are deceased.
DeSantis can be seen Wednesday night during the Fox News-hosted debate
Hopper said so her mother, 23 weeks pregnant, sought medical attention at a central Florida clinic in 1955 because of bleeding and other complications.
Abortion was illegal at the time.
The doctor who examined her said he couldn’t hear a heartbeat.
He induced labor, and Hopper said her parents were told: “You don’t want this baby to live; if he lives, he will be a burden to you all your life.’
Hopper said the doctor told a nurse to dispose of the baby “dead or alive,” and that, as a newborn weighing one pound and 11 ounces, she was taken by a nurse who “put me in a bedpan on the back porch of the clinic.”
When her grandmother and aunt arrived, they found newborn Hopper, and her grandmother called the police and then took her to the hospital.
Medical experts told the New York Times that a baby born in 1955 at 23 weeks had very little chance of survival.
Almost 60 now percent of babies born after 23 weeks survive if they receive the most modern treatment in a neonatal intensive care unit.
DeSantis’ team told the newspaper that he had met Hopper, and her story had a deep impact on him.
Donald Trump, meanwhile, crowed Friday about the “visions” for his interview with Tucker Carlson — which rivaled Wednesday’s debate.
Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson taped an interview that aired Wednesday night that clashed with the Fox News Republican primary debate
Trump eschewed the official Republican debate on Fox News for a conversation with Carlson on the former Fox News host’s X show
He wrote on Truth Social, “The debate on FoxNews had a hard time with the proverbial RATINGS. It was one of the lowest rated EVER, if not THE LOWEST. This revealed that many of the participants are ‘second-class’ and merely ‘pretenders to the throne’. Some of the answers were so bad, and the delivery was even worse. The numbers were less than half what I had in 2016, not a good way to start the fight against Crooked Joe Biden and his Lunatic Thugs. We will not let this happen. MAGA!’
He added, ‘Wow! My interview with Tucker Carlson has turned out to be the most watched video and interview in HISTORY. What a great honor to have taken part in this. 257,000,000 views, and it’s still going – more than doubling the longtime reigning Champ, the Oprah Winfrey interview with Michael Jackson. THANK YOU!’
Fox announced on Thursday that nearly 13 million people tuned in to the first Republican debate, which aired Wednesday from 9 to 11 p.m. ET.
Carlson’s interview with Trump had been viewed 238 million times by 6 p.m. ET on Thursday.
However, it is not a direct comparison. X counts a ‘view’ every time a user scrolls past the video, even without watching any of it.
Fox declared Thursday that the debate was “the most watched cable broadcast of the year without sporting events,” but cable news executives are sure to be unsettled by the social media numbers.