(LifeSiteNews) — Former President and presumptive Republican White House nominee Donald Trump refused to say how he will personally vote on a ballot initiative to establish a “right” to abortion-on-demand in Florida, instead taking the opportunity to reiterate his opposition to the Sunshine State’s newly enforceable ban on aborting babies with beating hearts.
On April 30, TIME magazine published a wide-ranging interview with Trump, during which the 45th president and Florida resident was asked about multiple aspects of the abortion debate.
“How do you plan to vote in the state’s abortion referendum this November that would overturn (Florida Republican Gov. Ron) DeSantis’s six-week ban?” TIME’s Eric Cortellessa asked.
READ: Ron DeSantis is fighting back against Florida’s radical pro-abortion amendment
“Well, I said I thought six weeks is too severe,” Trump replied, referencing critical comments he made over the past year about the law that took effect on May 1. “I think it was a semi-controversial statement when I made it, and it’s become less and less controversial with time. I think Ron was hurt very badly when he did this because the people – even conservative women in Florida thought it was—”
At that point, Cortellessa interjected to restate his original question: “Well, this referendum would undo that. Are you gonna vote for it in November?”
“Well, it’ll give something else,” Trump said. “I don’t tell you what I’m gonna vote for. I only tell you the state’s gonna make a determination.”
The so-called “Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion” would go even further than repealing the heartbeat law.
Backed by a coalition of left-wing and pro-abortion groups called “Floridians Protecting Freedom” (FPF), it states 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.”
READ: New undercover videos expose Planned Parenthood covering up child sex abuse
If enacted, it would require abortion to be allowed for any reason before fetal “viability” and render post-“viability” bans effectively meaningless by exempting any abortion that an abortionist claims is for “health” reasons.
The amendment says that it “does not change the Legislature’s constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion.” But DeSantis has warned that “there’s a difference between consent and notification. Notification is after the fact. The consent is obviously a condition precedent. They did that because they know going after parents’ rights is a vulnerability.”
Pro-lifers across the nation are hopeful that Florida can break the abortion lobby’s two-year winning streak with state ballot initiatives, but Trump has decided to distance himself from clear pro-life stands as part of his campaign, instead focusing his message on the matter now being relegated to the states.
To that end, he told TIME that “I won’t have to commit to” signing or vetoing a national abortion ban because “it’ll never happen” and “it’s about states’ rights.” On the question of abortion pills by mail, Trump said he would be making a statement sometime in the next two weeks.
“Do you think states should monitor women’s pregnancies so they can know if they’ve gotten an abortion after the ban?” Cortellessa asked. “I think they might do that,” Trump replied. “Again, you’ll have to speak to the individual states.” No mainstream pro-lifer has ever floated such a proposal in the United States, and pro-lifers recently decried an insinuation to that effect in a recent ad put out by pro-abortion California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
READ: Think unborn babies are just ‘clumps of cells’? These videos will make you think again
Constitutional amendments require 60 percent of the vote in Florida (as opposed to the simple-majority threshold in states such as Michigan and Ohio), and polls have disagreed as to whether the amendment can reach it. Additionally, Republican voter registration recently surpassed Democrats by more than 900,000, an unprecedented advantage expected to further impact turnout in November.
Meanwhile, polls currently indicate a razor-thin popular vote between Trump and President Joe Biden but a 312-225 victory for Trump in the Electoral College. Voters say that convictions in Trump’s various ongoing legal battles would make them less likely to support Trump, but serious concern among Democrats over Biden’s age and mental health, and deep dissatisfaction with his job performance, give the current president comparable electoral challenges.
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