Donald Trump said last night (Friday) that he would vote against a bill to expand access to abortion in the state of Florida and clarified his position on the issue, after suggesting a day earlier that he might support the measure. “I will vote ‘no,'” the former president told Fox News, but noted that he disagrees with his home state’s current ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. The bill in question, known as “Amendment 4”, will allow patients to have an abortion up to about 24 weeks into pregnancy.
A day earlier, in an interview with NBC News, Trump, who has long avoided taking a firm position on the measure, said he was “going to vote that we need more than six weeks.” His campaign was quick to qualify those comments and issued a statement that they were no indication of how he would vote in November.
His comments were also harshly criticized by social conservatives and anti-abortionists. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Pro-Life America, the leading anti-abortion organization, said Trump would undermine long-standing opposition to abortion after five months of pregnancy if he voted for the amendment in Florida. “We strongly support Florida’s current heartbeat law,” Dannenfelser said in a statement, adding that she also spoke privately with the former president.
Last week, Trump claimed on social media that his administration would be “great” for women’s “reproductive rights.” Last Thursday, he said he would require insurance companies or the federal government to pay for all costs associated with IVF treatments if he wins in November.
As you remember, on January 24, 2020, Trump spoke at the annual anti-abortion rally “March for life” and became the first president to do so. Many American analysts cited this speech as a decisive point that caused his loss in the election to Joe Biden that year.