Trump to Issue Abortion Statement ‘Next Week’ as Florida Preps for 6-Week Limit

Former President Donald Trump told reporters on April 2 that he will issue a statement on abortion “next week” as his home state of Florida prepares for a six-week abortion limit to take effect.

While wrapping up a speech in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the former president was asked if he supported the law, which is slated to take effect on May 1.

The crowd, annoyed by the politically charged question, erupted in loud groans, boos, and chants of “Four more years!” But President Trump nevertheless replied: “We’ll be making a statement next week on abortion.”

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has often shied away from taking a specific stance on abortion. While he has espoused pro-life views, he has also criticized fellow Republicans for taking stricter positions on the issue.

“You have to follow your heart,” he said. “Some people want to take a tougher stand on it—they don’t want any exceptions under any circumstances. My attitude is you have to have exceptions if there’s rape, incest, [risks to] the life of the mother—you have to have exceptions.”

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But one of his reasons for taking that view is pragmatic.

“You have to win elections,” he said. “Otherwise, you’ll be right back where you started.”

President Trump has said in the past that he believes abortion is a losing issue for Republicans, attributing recent GOP losses to candidates’ hard line stances on the procedure. He has also vowed to work with those on both sides of the issue to find common ground without offering any details of what that would look like.

During the WABC interview, he expressed support for a 15-week abortion limit, offering his first public endorsement of a specific measure.

But another ruling the court issued could have the ultimate effect of negating both laws.

A ballot initiative seeking to enshrine abortion access in the Florida Constitution was also approved by the court, despite Attorney General Ashley Moody’s challenge to its legality.

The initiative’s text reads, “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.” It adds that the amendment “does not change the Legislature’s constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion.”

If 60 percent of voters approve the measure on Nov. 5, it will become law.

Currently, there is no official consensus on the point of “fetal viability,” or when an unborn baby can survive outside the womb. But in at least one recorded case, a child has survived after being born at 21 weeks.

For many, however, the question is not whether the child is viable but whether it can feel the pain of an abortion. An increasing body of research indicates that babies can feel pain by 15 weeks’ gestation—hence the coalescence of support around a federal 15-week limit.

Responding to the Florida Supreme Court’s rulings, Katie Daniel, state policy director for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said the state’s ballot initiative would “bring dangerous late-term abortions back to Florida” and eliminate “every abortion health regulation on the books.”

“In a state where 25 percent of abortion centers failed inspections, it’s no surprise they want to be completely unregulated to increase their profits at the expense of women, girls, and babies,” Ms. Daniel added.

But Florida House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell was confident that voters would approve the initiative.

“The majority of Floridians already agree that this decision must stay between women and their doctors—over one million have already signed a petition to protect abortion access,” she said in a statement. “I have no doubt that Florida voters will come out in force to make their voices heard on Election Day.”

Jacob Burg contributed to this report.