Trump says he'll vote to uphold Florida's 6-week abortion ban amid conservative backlash

[Francee89]

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump came out on Friday against a ballot measure in his home state of Florida that would expand access to abortion, after spending a day doing damage control on the issue.

His announcement came a day after telling NBC News that Florida’s six-week ban is “too short” and declining to take a clear stance on a state ballot measure that would expand access to the procedure.

On Friday, Trump said, once again, that women need "more time" than six weeks to decide whether to have an abortion, but that the "Democrats are radical" and he couldn't back the amendment.

"So I think six weeks you need more time, then six weeks I’ve disagreed with that right from the early primaries when I heard about it I disagreed with it," Trump said in comments to Fox News. "At the same time the Democrats are radical because the nine months is just a ridiculous situation where you can do an abortion in the ninth month. ... So I’ll be voting no for that reason."

The proposed amendment would bar restrictions on abortion before fetal viability, around the 24th week of pregnancy, while ensuring exceptions to protect the health of the mother.

The backlash from anti-abortion advocates was fierce after Trump's interview with NBC News, with some warning that the Republican presidential nominee was risking losing support from a key bloc of the party’s base.

Alarmed by what she saw, Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the influential anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, called Trump on Thursday to ask for clarity on his comments, according to a source with knowledge of the conversation. Trump told her that he didn’t state a position on an amendment on his home state’s ballot this fall.

Dannenfelser told him that “it’s imperative that you’re clear because there’s confusion now that you may be in support of this,” the source added. She also told him the amendment is “incongruent” with his opposition to late-term abortion.

During the interview with NBC News, Trump said, “I am going to be voting that we need more than six weeks,” when asked how he would vote on the ballot measure. It's unclear what he meant as the Florida initiative gives voters a binary choice.

Later Thursday, Trump’s campaign issued a statement saying the former president “has not yet said how he will vote on the ballot initiative in Florida.”

Meanwhile, anti-abortion activists, who have provided critical support to Trump during his three presidential runs, piled on. Some also criticized his suggestion that he’d mandate that the government or insurance companies pay for in vitro fertilization treatments.

“Former President Trump now appears determined to undermine his prolife supporters,” evangelical theologian Albert Mohler wrote on X. “His criticism of Florida abortion restrictions & his call for government funding of IVF & his recent statement about ‘reproductive rights’ seem almost calculated to alienate prolife voters.”

The clash puts Trump and Republicans in uncharted waters, facing the first presidential election in half a century without Roe v. Wade on the books to protect abortion rights. The GOP was largely unified behind legislation to outlaw abortion at the state and federal levels when they were able to use it to rally anti-abortion voters with no chance of it succeeding legislatively.

But some Republicans now fear voter backlash from the majority of Americans who say in polls they want abortion to be mostly or always legal, particularly as Democrats seek to further capitalize on the issue. And Trump, who has bragged about appointing three of the five Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe, is still struggling to navigate it.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna168922

[Francee89]

Talk about flip flopping - it took all of 24 hours for him to go from “I am gonna be voting that we need more than six weeks” to agreeing a 6 week ban should be upheld. Why would anyone have any confidence he won’t cave to these pro-life/socially conservative policy demands if re-elected?

And just to be clear, Amendment 4 would not mean lawmakers could not restrict abortion post-viability. Trump is lying - it would not legalize abortion until 9 months: https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2 ... te-aborti/

[SallyMae]

Trump has no positions.

[jessilin0113]

Trump has no positions.

Seriously. Every conservative accusation about Harris is a confession about Trump.

[Slimshandy]

Do you guys really not understand that one?


He’s saying 6 weeks is too short, 9months is too long…



So if something comes up to vote on and it’s not a middle ground, he’ll vote in favor of the shorter time.

[Della]

Trump is juggling both sides of the fence here.

[Francee89]

Do you guys really not understand that one?


He’s saying 6 weeks is too short, 9months is too long…



So if something comes up to vote on and it’s not a middle ground, he’ll vote in favor of the shorter time.

Why would 9 months being too long be a relevant point here whatsoever? Trump is (shocker) lying. Amendment 4 doesn’t legalize abortion until then - if passed, it would return Florida to the Roe standard that “no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability”. It would not limit lawmaker’s ability to regulate post-viability abortion.

But yes, it’s good of him to make it abundantly clear that when given the choice between returning to the law as it was pre-2022 or upholding 6 week bans, he’ll come down on the side of 6 week bans.

[Quorra2.0]

Do you guys really not understand that one?


He’s saying 6 weeks is too short, 9months is too long…



So if something comes up to vote on and it’s not a middle ground, he’ll vote in favor of the shorter time.

Why would 9 months being too long be a relevant point here whatsoever? Trump is (shocker) lying. Amendment 4 doesn’t legalize abortion until then - if passed, it would return Florida to the Roe standard that “no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability”. It would not limit lawmaker’s ability to regulate post-viability abortion.

But yes, it’s good of him to make it abundantly clear that when given the choice between returning to the law as it was pre-2022 or upholding 6 week bans, he’ll come down on the side of 6 week bans.

What is scary is flip flopping is the best case scenario here. Worse case being he either is weak and easily influenced OR he flat out doesn’t understand what is being proposed with amendment 4.

[SoFloMom]

His strategy seems to be to just throw as much shit at the wall as possible and see what sticks.

[cgd5112]

This! AND whatever does stick to translate to more money for his pockets.

It looks like the right is back to trumpsplaining against what is self evident.

His strategy seems to be to just throw as much shit at the wall as possible and see what sticks.