Former President Donald Trump stated on Friday that he would vote against a Florida ballot measure seeking to repeal the state’s six-week abortion ban, following confusion over his stance after comments made earlier in the week.
During an interview with Fox News Channel on Friday, Donald Trump described Florida’s six-week abortion ban as “a mistake,” expressing the view that “six weeks, you need more time.” However, he also criticized Democrats, labelling them as “radical,” and reiterated his opposition to late-term abortions, falsely claiming that Democrats support abortion up until nine months.
The Florida ballot measure in question would legalize abortion until fetal viability, a term used by healthcare providers to determine whether a pregnancy is expected to continue normally or whether a fetus could survive outside the uterus. Fetal viability is generally considered to be around 23 or 24 weeks, approximately six months into pregnancy.
Donald Trump faced backlash from abortion opponents, many of whom are his supporters after he seemed to indicate in an interview on Thursday that he would vote in favour of the ballot measure to repeal the six-week ban, stating, “I am going to be voting that we need more than six weeks.”
In response to the criticism, Donald Trump’s campaign quickly released a statement clarifying his position, asserting that Donald Trump had not explicitly stated how he would vote but had “simply reiterated that he believes six weeks is too short.”
Donald Trump has held various conflicting positions on abortion over the years. After initially considering support for a potential 15-week nationwide ban on the procedure, he announced in April that the regulation of abortion should be left to individual states.
Since then, Donald Trump has repeatedly taken credit for his role in overturning Roe v. Wade and described the process as “a beautiful thing to watch” as states set their own restrictions on abortion.
Responding to Donald Trump’s remarks on Friday, Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democratic rival, issued a statement: “Donald Trump just made his position on abortion very clear: He will vote to uphold an abortion ban so extreme it applies before many women even know they are pregnant.”
