On Thursday, Donald Trump raised eyebrows after being asked about Florida’s Amendment 4, which would enshrine abortion rights, including late-term abortion, into the state’s constitution. On Friday, he cleared up any confusion about where he stands.
The controversy started when Trump said the following to NBC News reporter Dasha Burns.
“I think the six week is too short, there has to be more time,” former President Trump says how he’ll vote on an abortion rights amendment in Florida. pic.twitter.com/rQAdPtW9i0
— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) August 29, 2024
While Trump didn’t specifically say he was going to vote for Amendment 4 in that exchange, he did say that he was going to “vote for more weeks.” Given Amendment 4 represented the only possibility on the ballot to do that, that set off alarm bells on the right.
Whatever effect the backlash had or didn’t have, Trump clarified his position the next day and announced he would vote against Amendment 4.
#BREAKING: Former President Trump is “no” on Florida’s abortion Amendment 4, saying the amendment is too extreme
“I’ll be voting no.” pic.twitter.com/YoGuIVMR1o
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) August 30, 2024
That’s a huge development, both because it greatly increases the chance of Amendment 4 failing and because it defuses a possible point of disunity among Republicans. While some may disagree with Trump’s personal views on needing “more weeks,” abortion is no longer a federal issue. As long as it stays that way (and both Trump and Vance have made that pledge), and the former president isn’t actively seeking to advance abortion at the state level (i.e. voting for and tacitly promoting Amendment 4), then that’s the end of the story.
All the vast majority of pro-lifers are looking for is a “do-no-harm” commitment. Republicans shouldn’t be expected to run headlong into a brick wall politically, but they also shouldn’t help Democrats push the ball down the field with misguided attempts at pandering. Trump gave Republican voters the confidence that he’s not going to do that with his announcement. That’s all that needed to happen, and now it has. With that possible roadblock out of the way, it’s full speed ahead among GOP voters to defeat Kamala Harris in November.
