Conservative pundit Ann Coulter had a less than enthusiastic response about Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signing legislation that bans abortion after six-weeks in the state.

DeSantis, who is widely viewed as a leading contender for the GOP's 2024 presidential nomination, but has not yet announced plans to run, signed the controversial bill on Thursday after it was passed by the Republican-dominated Florida legislature. The bill, SB 300 or the "Heartbeat Protection Act," does contain some exceptions however. In the case of rape or incest, an abortion is permitted up to 15 weeks if the woman can provide documentation such as a restraining order or a police report. According to NBC News, the new bill doesn't change existing exemptions for life and the health of the mother up to 15 weeks.

The governor's signature came amid the backdrop of conservatives' nationwide effort to restrict abortion access, as Democrats push to protect women's right to choose the medical procedure.

GOP lawmakers across the country have worked to severely restrict or completely ban abortion since the conservative-dominated Supreme Court last June overturned the precedent set by the landmark Roe v. Wade decision back in 1973. Under Roe, abortion was established as a federal constitutional right. With its overturning, the decision on whether to legally allow abortions has been returned to individual states.

Coulter on Friday morning shared a tweet outlining the public's largely negative response to Republicans' efforts to restrict abortion access, connecting it to the GOP bill passed in Florida.

"A six week abortion ban? What a gamble for DeSantis. Democrats won the MI Gov., PA Gov., and WI Supreme Court races by double digits after making abortion the central issue. If DeSantis is the [2024] nominee, it's possible this decides the election," Logan Phillips, the founder and editor-in-chief of Race to the WH, wrote in the Twitter post shared by Coulter. According to its website, Race to the WH uses data-driven models to forecast elections and tracks the latest polling in both general elections and primary races.

In response, Coulter issued her own two-word warning about DeSantis' and Florida Republicans' new legislation. "Total disaster," the conservative commentator wrote.

"Signed the Heartbeat Protection Act, which expands pro-life protections and devotes resources to help young mothers and families," DeSantis tweeted late Thursday evening, sharing an image from the signing ceremony.

Prior to DeSantis' decision to sign the bill, Coulter publicly urged him against doing so. In an April 9 tweet, the conservative pundit shared a post about the pending legislation. She wrote: "HUGE MISTAKE! PLEASE DON'T DO IT, @GovRonDeSantis!"

Whether SB 300 comes into effect is dependent on the legal challenges to a previous bill signed by the governor last April that prohibits abortion after 15 weeks, which is due to appear before the state Supreme Court.

As Phillips highlighted in his tweet, Republicans have faced significant pushback from voters as they've worked to restrict abortion. Ballot measures to restrict or block abortion access have failed in several conservative leaning states, with the GOP having a lackluster performance in the 2022 midterm elections.

Republicans poor showing came after Democrats campaigned heavily on protecting abortion access in the wake of Roe being overturned. Although the GOP was predicted to have a so-called "red wave," it failed to materialize and Democrats actually gained a Senate seat as well as a governorship. Republicans only managed to flip the House by the narrowest of margins.

Polling suggests that a majority of Florida voters oppose a ban on abortion. A survey conducted by Public Opinion Research Lab at the University of North Florida last February showed that 57 percent of Florida voters opposed a previous bill that restricted access to 15 weeks of pregnancy. Only about a third of voters (34 percent) said they supported the bill. That survey included 685 voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.74 percentage points.

Nationwide, the trend is similar. According to Pew Research Center last June, about six in 10 Americans believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Just 37 percent believe it should be illegal.

Even former President Donald Trump, who was instrumental in securing the conservative Supreme Court majority that overturned Roe, has been critical of Republicans' efforts to severely restrict or ban abortion.

"It wasn't my fault Republicans did not live up to expectations in the MidTerms," Trump posted on Truth Social in early January. "It was the 'abortion issue,' poorly handled by many Republicans, especially those that firmly insisted on No Exceptions, even in the case of Rape, Incest or Life of the Mother, that lost large numbers of Voters."

Supporters of abortion bans generally say that life begins at conception, and say their efforts aim to protect human life. Many opponents of abortion view the medical procedure as akin to murder.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday called the ban "extreme and dangerous," and said it "flies in the face of fundamental freedoms and is out of step with the views of the vast majority of the people of Florida and of all the United States."

Despite the criticism, Mike Beltran, a Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives, suggested that the six-week abortion bill is a compromise for DeSantis.

"I favor an outright ban on abortion," Beltran told The New York Times. "This is a compromise. For every person who thinks this goes too far, there are folks who feel that it doesn't go far enough."

Newsweek reached out to Coulter and DeSantis' press representatives via email for further comment.

Update, April 14, 2023 at 3:28 p.m. ET: An additional Twitter post from Coulter was added.