Luna’s Proxy Push Rings Hollow After Weak Abortion Pushback

Another week has come and gone in the nation’s capital, which means congressional Republicans are either doing nothing productive, wasting taxpayer money, or losing major policy fights. In the case of this week (and many others), it’s all of the above.

On Americans’ dime, the GOP-run House was all but forced to abruptly end work on its legislative agenda on Tuesday for the remainder of the week amid efforts led in part by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., to allow representatives who are new parents to vote by proxy. In other words, Luna pushed to amend House rules to permit these members to vote on key legislation without having to physically show up to work.

When the matter came to a head on Tuesday, House Republicans attempted to advance a procedural rule allowing several Trump legislative priorities to proceed to the floor. The proposed rule notably contained language effectively nuking Luna’s efforts, prompting the Florida congresswoman and eight of her beta-male GOP colleagues to side with House Democrats in defeating it. With no good options, Speaker Mike Johnson canceled votes in the lower chamber until next week, leaving the passage of key measures like the SAVE Act (an election integrity bill) in limbo.

Luna has tried to justify her push for proxy voting by claiming it’s “pro-family.” In a letter announcing her departure from the House Freedom Caucus over the matter, the Florida congresswoman similarly characterized her resolution as a “modest, family-centered proposal.” (Although President Trump seemingly endorsed the resolution earlier this week, Johnson, who has consistently expressed opposition to voting by proxy, also signaled Friday he is backed by the president on the matter. As of now, it is unclear how the proxy resolution will proceed.)

But it’s hard to take Luna’s professed support for so-called “pro-family” policies seriously. When it came to standing against the anti-family abortion amendment in her own state last year, the congresswoman was largely absent from the fight.

Leading up to the 2024 election, radical left-wing activists gathered enough signatures to place a deceptively worded pro-abortion amendment on Florida’s November ballot. As The Federalist’s Jordan Boyd reported, this extreme initiative — which required at least 60 percent support to pass — sought to “effectively enshrine abortion through birth in the Sunshine State’s constitution and eliminate safeguards designed to protect women and children.”

In response to the prospect of baby-killing being enshrined in their state’s founding document, nearly every member of Florida’s GOP congressional delegation forcefully spoke out against the horrific amendment. Meanwhile, Luna played coy on the subject.

Less than two months before the November contest, the congresswoman was asked by Politico how she planned to vote on the initiative seeking to enshrine abortion through birth into her state’s constitution. Rather than come out in strong opposition to Amendment 4 and highlight its extreme provisions, Luna repeatedly declined to give a definitive answer. She furthermore neglected to discourage Floridians from supporting the initiative.

“I think it’s a state’s rights issue,” Luna said. “I don’t think that questions of policy should be placed on the ballot, and I think that there’s some things that are up for debate within the medical community alone.” When again pressed on her stance, she said, “The Supreme Court said, as a federal legislator, that my opinion on the matter doesn’t really matter.”

The closest Luna got to pushing back against the pro-abortion initiative appears to have been during an August 2024 radio interview. The congresswoman said she is “personally very pro-life” and “not ever going to change that position,” and hinted that she would oppose the measure. Much like her engagement with Politico, however, the congresswoman stopped short of professing her opposition to the amendment, once again using “state’s rights” as a cop-out.

“I think you know how I will probably be voting on that, but again, that’s not my decision, that’s up for the people to decide,” Luna said.

Thanks to virtually no help from Luna, Amendment 4 was ultimately defeated and Florida’s pro-life protections for the unborn remain in effect. But the point still remains: The Florida Republican repeatedly tried to sidestep the biggest family-related policy battle impacting her constituents.

Maybe Luna genuinely does have strong convictions on being “pro-family” and ensuring parents are present in their children’s lives. But those convictions do not change the fact that being a member of Congress is not a part-time gig, and in no way should the House change its rules to accommodate members who fail to understand that.

What Luna clearly doesn’t comprehend in her push for proxy voting is that she’s a proxy tasked with voting on behalf of the people who elected her. It’s her sworn obligation to be there for House activities and act in accordance with her voters’ interests.

Like any individual who runs for public office, Luna took an oath to represent her constituents on a full-time basis. That means showing up for votes, committee hearings, and any other actions related to the obligations she agreed to. 

If the congresswoman or other representatives want to be an active presence in raising their children, then they should abdicate their seats to people their voters can count on to represent them in Congress. They can’t have it both ways.

Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood