Former President Donald Trump controls a MAGA Republican base that largely favors strict abortion laws, with support for near total abortion bans even in cases where an unwanted pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.
Trump is also a politician who can read the polls and the writing on the wall. And when abortion has been on the ballot in the post-Roe America, even in conservative states like Kansas, a significant majority has voted to protect reproductive rights and torpedo legislation restricting them.
Asked for his stance on abortion, Trump has provided answers that toe the line — and as a result he has disappointed some far-right Republicans and an evangelical base he courts and counts on.
Trump, who has boasted about “killing” Roe with his Supreme Court picks, also recently sought to step around the issue (see video below) by relegating it to a state-level decision, which is what the Supreme Court’s Dodd decision essentially did when it removed the national protections provided by Roe v. Wade.
Trump issues a statement on his abortion position, which is that whatever laws each state decides to have is just fine with him. Whatever anyone does is fine with him, he just needs your vote. pic.twitter.com/pZQWL3zJLO
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) April 8, 2024
Yet anti-abortion activists don’t want to leave it to states, and neither do myriad candidates whom Trump has endorsed.
Interestingly, because of a recent Florida State Supreme Court decision, Trump — the private citizen — will get a chance to vote in November in favor of maintaining a strict 6-week abortion ban in his home state of Florida, which goes into effect on May 1. Or Trump can vote to codify reproductive rights including abortion into state law by voting for Amendment #4 on November 5 — 120 days from now — when, barring a potential conviction and imprisonment, he will surely be going to the polls.
Trump is under no obligation to say how he votes on the issue, but Trump antagonist and former prosecutor Ron Filipkowski notes that Trump’s opportunity to vote on it creates an opportunity for reporters to ask the former President the question: “Will you vote against the referendum and uphold FL’s 6 week abortion ban?” they could ask to determine Trump’s personal beliefs on the issue. “How will YOU be voting on that?”
Maybe an interviewer can finally pin Trump down on HIS abortion position by asking him one simple question that requires only a yes or no answer. Will you vote against the referendum and uphold FL’s 6 week abortion ban? How will YOU be voting on that?
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) April 8, 2024