Former President Donald Trump said Friday he will vote no on a Florida abortion ballot measure that would have repealed a six-week abortion ban enacted by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL).
“So I think six weeks, you need more time than six weeks. I’ve disagreed with that right from the early primaries. When I heard about it, I disagreed with it,” Trump told Fox News’s Bryan Llenas before he denounced Democrats for allegedly allowing late-term abortion. “All of that stuff is unacceptable, so I will be voting no for that reason.”
BREAKING: President Trump says he is voting NO on Florida’s Amendment 4, which would legalize abortion through the 9th month:
“All of that stuff is unacceptable so I will be voting no for that reason.” pic.twitter.com/a8vf6QNjqV
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 30, 2024
“I think the six week is too short. There has to be more time,” Trump told NBC News just one day prior, which led some anti-abortion groups to protest. “I’ve told them I want more weeks.”
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, took to social media to push back against Trump’s comments.
“I spoke with President Trump this evening. He has not committed to how he will vote on Amendment 4,” she wrote.
SBA Pro-Life America has long pressured Trump to push for a federal abortion ban even as he has signaled he is willing to temper his stance on abortion.
The Trump campaign attempted to clean up the former president’s comments later that night in a statement, in which it claimed Trump “has not yet said how he will vote on the ballot initiative in Florida.”
On Friday, Dannenfelser celebrated Trump’s new stance.
“We thank President Donald Trump for announcing he will vote no on Amendment 4. President Trump is absolutely right, Amendment 4 is a radical measure that would force taxpayers to fund abortion, eliminate parental rights, take women’s health protections off the books and allow abortion throughout all of pregnancy – even in the seventh, eighth and ninth months,” she said in a statement.
The former president has recently attempted to hold a more centrist stance on matters related to reproductive rights as he seeks to stem the electoral losses the GOP has faced since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade. On Thursday, Trump also called for the federal government to cover in vitro fertilization treatments if he is reelected to a second administration.
“I’m announcing today in a major statement that under the Trump administration, your government will pay for, or your insurance company will be mandated to pay for, all costs associated with IVF treatment, fertilization for women,” Trump said.
He reiterated that stance Friday at a Pennsylvania rally.
“We want more babies to be born in America. We want more babies. We need them,” Trump said.
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He did not mention the Florida abortion ballot measure.
The Harris campaign, however, blasted the former president’s latest stance on reproductive rights and claimed women “aren’t falling for his gaslighting.”
