Former President Trump said Friday he would vote against a planned Florida ballot measure that would block future state laws that restrict abortion access and overturn the state's current abortion ban.
President Trump, who has argued that current state laws banning birth control after six weeks of pregnancy are too strict, told Fox News' Brian Lenas that he would vote against the bill despite those concerns.
“I don't think six weeks is enough. I need more than six weeks. I've been against it since I heard about it early on in the primaries,” the former president said. “At the same time, Democrats are extreme because nine months is a ridiculous situation.”
“All this is unacceptable, which is why I will be voting no,” he added.
Florida currently bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy — before most women even know they're pregnant. The law includes exceptions for rape and incest.
In two interviews earlier this week, Trump said the six-week ban was “too short” and suggested he might vote in favor of a ballot measure to overturn Florida's law, but his campaign faced backlash from anti-abortion activists on Thursday and was quick to clarify that Trump had not yet made a decision.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, on Friday thanked Trump for opposing the Florida bill.
“I thank President Trump for making clear how extreme this measure is, and I call on all Republican leaders in Florida to follow his example,” she said in a statement.
In the two years since a conservative Supreme Court majority ended Roe v. Wade, reproductive rights have been front and center on the political agenda, with some states enacting abortion rights and others enacting restrictive laws that effectively ban abortion.
Trump has boasted about winning an end to Roe v. Wade and has said abortion policy should be left to states through legislation or referendum, as Republican-led states enact restrictive policies — drawing attacks, including from some on the right who expressed disappointment that the former president did not embrace federal minimum standards on abortion.
Trump and his allies have argued that Democrats are more radical on the issue, supporting abortion up until birth. But such procedures Very rareAbortion after birth is already illegal.
At the same time, Trump has sought to garner support from voters concerned about restrictions on reproductive health care. Last week, Trump posted to Truth Social that his administration would be “great for women and their reproductive rights,” and this week he promised that the government would cover the costs of in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments, though it's unclear how the government would pay for it.
The Harris-Walz campaign has sought to capitalize on this momentum, consistently calling state-level abortion bans “Trump's abortion ban.”
