In an interview with NBC News on Thursday, former President Donald Trump suggested he would vote in favor of repealing Florida’s six-week abortion ban, which limits the procedure before many women even know they are pregnant.
Trump, in the interview, did not explicitly say how he plans to vote on the ballot measure this fall. But he repeated his past criticism that the measure, signed into law by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis last year, is too restrictive.
“I think the six weeks is too short. It has to be more time," he said. ”I am going to be voting that we need more than six weeks.”
Trump had previously called DeSantis’ decision to sign the bill a “terrible mistake.”
READ MORE: Abortions are down in Florida amid six-week ban
DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Legislature approved the six-week abortion limit in 2023 after passing a 15-week limit in 2022. The state Supreme Court on April 1 rejected a constitutional challenge by abortion-rights supporters to the 15-week limit.
That ruling also had the effect of allowing the six-week limit to take effect May 1.
The proposed Florida amendment says, in part, that no “law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient's health, as determined by the patient's healthcare provider.” It would need approval from 60% of voters to pass.
Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt later said in a statement that Trump “has not yet said how he will vote on the ballot initiative in Florida” known as Amendment 4 and that he “simply reiterated that he believes six weeks is too short.”
His comments nonetheless drew immediate reaction from those who oppose abortion rights, including Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, who said she had spoken with Trump after his speech.
“He has not committed to how he will vote on Amendment 4. President Trump has consistently opposed abortions after five months of pregnancy. Amendment 4 would allow abortion past this point. Voting for Amendment 4 completely undermines his position,” she said, adding that, “anyone who believes in drawing a different line” still “must vote against Amendment 4, unless they don’t want a line at all.”
Trump has held multiple conflicting positions on abortion over the years. After briefly considering backing a potential 15-week ban on the procedure nationwide, he announced in April that regulating abortion should be left to the states.
In the months since, he has repeatedly taken credit for his role in overturning Roe and called it “a beautiful thing to watch” as states set their own restrictions.
Trump, however, has also said he does not support a national abortion ban, and over the weekend, his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, said he would veto such legislation if it landed on his desk.
“Donald Trump’s view is that we want the individual states and their individual cultures and their unique political sensibilities to make these decisions because we don’t want to have a nonstop federal conflict over this issue," Vance said on NBC’s “Meet the Press."
Florida Democratic Party Nikki Fried said Trump is "attempting to run away from his record on reproductive rights because he knows that abortion bans are extremely unpopular."
“Floridians know exactly how we got here,” said Fried in response to Donald Trump’s comments about Florida’s extreme 6-week ban. “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.
“Florida voters won’t be fooled by Donald Trump’s lies," she said in a statement on Friday. "It’s time to hold every Republican accountable for enacting Florida’s extreme 6-week ban and the only way to do that is to vote yes on Amendment 4 and send Kamala Harris and Tim Walz to the White House in November.”
