Gabrielle Russon
People on both sides of the Florida abortion debate are reacting after former President Donald Trump and his team gave conflicting answers regarding his support for a ballot initiative that would undo the state’s six-week abortion ban.
“While there are many issues that are dividing us as Floridians and as Americans, it is now clear that Florida’s extreme ban on abortion is not one of them,” read a statement from Florida Women’s Freedom Coalition, a bipartisan group supporting reproductive freedom.
“As former President and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump outlined yesterday, the simple fact is that Florida’s six-week abortion ban is not enough time.”
The group was reacting to Trump’s original answer regarding Amendment 4 when questioned by NBC News reporter Dasha Burns.
“I think the six-week is too short, there has to be more time,” Trump told Burns.
“So you’ll vote in favor of the amendment?” Burns asked.
“I am going to be voting that we need more than six weeks,” Trump replied.
Trump’s campaign quickly tried to backtrack, saying in a statement that he has not decided yet how he will vote on Amendment 4, which would enshrine abortion rights into the constitution.
Taryn Fenske, part of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ communications team who is speaking against Amendment 4, issued a statement trying to frame Trump as being against the initiative to protect abortion rights.
“Donald Trump has consistently stated that late-term abortions where a baby can feel pain should never be permitted, and he’s always stood up for parents’ rights,” Fenske said on X. “Amendment 4 would allow late-term abortions, eliminate parental consent, and open the door to taxpayer-funded abortions.”
Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried pointed out Trump’s role in overturning Roe v. Wade, as he appointed conservative Justices who voted to end the landmark court case in place since 1973.
“Floridians know exactly how we got here,” Fried said in a statement Friday. “Trump has repeatedly bragged about overturning Roe v. Wade and now, he’s attempting to run away from his record on reproductive rights because he knows that abortion bans are extremely unpopular. Because of Donald Trump, Floridians are living under one of the most restrictive 6-week abortion bans in the country.”
The November ballot initiative needs at least 60% of the vote to pass, which means the Amendment 4 campaign needs bipartisan support.
When asked about Trump’s comments, the Amendment 4 campaign said, “We know that the passage of Amendment 4 is a nonpartisan issue — Republican, Democrat or independent, the overwhelming majority of Floridians do not want the government making decisions for them when it comes to something as personal and complicated as pregnancy.”
4 comments
cassandra was right
August 30, 2024 at 3:50 pm
Trump knows that the Republican Party Platform includes 14th Amendment “personhood” at fertilization. Republicans and the “Pro-life” industry believe SCOTUS will agree that eggs are persons too.Trump’s Project 2025 also calls for “personhood” at fertilization”, banning medication abortion, and enforcing the Comstock Act.
Trump has said he supports IVF. Trump has not said that he supports disposal of extra or damaged embryos which is done in almost all successful IVF procedures. If the term “person” is applied to eggs, the term “murder” will be applied to their disposal.
Trump says a lot of things! MAGAs agree that he doesn’t mean most of what he says! “That’s just Trump talking!” What Trump actually does is what’s important. He appointed “pro-life” SCOTUS justices specifically to overturn Roe. If elected Trump will follow his Project 2025 plan for Christian Nationalism.
PeterH
August 30, 2024 at 4:27 pm
Trump will adopt ANY POLICY that will help him stay out of prison.
MarvinM
August 31, 2024 at 9:00 pm
From Trump’s interview as reported above:
BURNS: So you’ll vote in favor of the amendment?
TRUMP: I am going to be voting that we need more than six weeks.
Of course this was reported before apparently Trump changed his mind. And please, don’t reply with “But Kamala changed her mind”.
Yeah, normal people can change their minds, when, over the course of months or years, they encounter new information and adjust their opinions accordingly. I think that’s a great quality in a leader, one who will intake new information and readjust their views if warranted.
But Trump changed his position in a mere few days. Not at all an equivalent.
I don’t know how much clearer Trump could make it to voters that they cannot trust anything he says.
Ocean Joe
September 2, 2024 at 9:04 am
Everybody knows he’s a compulsive, pathological liar. If he is reelected he will be putty in the hands of the Heritage and Federalist Society and will do as they say.
Remember after Parkland when he was going to be a tough guy and stand up to the NRA? That lasted about 10 minutes.
What gets lost in politics and the treatment of this guy as a major party candidate is that he is the Joe McCarthy of our time, he is a human wrecking ball. If he completely demolishes the GOP, fine by me. Their selfishness, greed and racism is how he captured them in the first place.
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