Trump’s comments thrust Florida abortion amendment into the national spotlight

Former President of the United States Donald Trump speaking with attendees at The Believers Summit at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons

On the ballot this upcoming election, Floridians will be voting on an abortion referendum known as proposed Amendment 4, a recurring topic in the political scene. 

Former President Donald Trump again avoided taking a concrete stance on this amendment, when asked by ABC’s Linsey Davis during the presidential debate

“In your home state of Florida, you initially had said that [the six-week abortion ban] was too short… But then the very next day, you reversed course and said you would vote to support the six-week ban,” said Davis. 

Florida voters will decide on proposed Amendment 4, alongside 5 other amendments in November. 

The Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion is a citizen initiative, which prohibits government interference with a woman’s decision to have an abortion until viability, defined as the point when a fetus can survive outside the womb with standard medical assistance. 

If approved by a 60% supermajority, it would make abortion legal until fetal viability, and amend the Florida Constitution so that reproductive rights cannot be restricted in the state.

In response to “why should [women] trust you?” On the abortion issue, Trump said “The reason I’m doing that vote is because… they have abortion in the ninth month.”

“[Harris’s] vice presidential pick says abortion in the ninth month is absolutely fine. He also says execution after birth, it’s execution, no longer abortion, because the baby is born, is okay. And that’s not okay with me,” said Trump.

Davis immediately fact-checked him at the end of his statement, saying, “There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it’s born.”

Trump also praised the Supreme Court’s 2022 reversal of Roe, claiming “through the genius and heart and strength of six supreme court justices we were able to do that.”

“Every legal scholar, every Democrat, every Republican, liberal, conservative, they all wanted this issue to be brought back to the states where the people could vote,” Trump said. “And that’s what happened… it’s not tied up in the federal government.”

Trump initially told NBC News that Florida’s six-week ban is “too short” and indicated, although did not explicitly state, that he would be voting to overturn it.

Intense backlash to this initial comment led Trump to backpedal just a day later, stating he would vote “no” on the referendum in comments to Fox News. 

“Democrats are radical,” he said.

UM Political Science professor Sylvia Thompson believes Trump wants to avoid offending the anti-abortion faction of his party while also not trying to alienate the majority of the American electorate.

“I think he knows that [6 weeks] is a really short time period to make a decision to have an abortion… most people around the country, including in Florida … don’t want that. But, his most staunch supporters definitely want that, and he can’t afford to offend them,” Thompson said.

Trump claimed to be “very pro-choice” in a 1999 Meet the Press interview. Since then, his view on the issue has consistently fluctuated. During his first presidential campaign in March 2016, he said he supported “some form of punishment” for women who get abortions.

“We can give him the benefit of the doubt,” Thompson said. “It’s possible he reexamined his views and the situation and decided he was wrong previously.” Albeit, most likely, “he wants the votes of people who are pro-life.”