Former President Donald Trump indicated he would vote in favor of abortion rights in his home state of Florida, where it is on the ballot. Saying he thinks the "six week [ban] is too short," he said he favored "more time."
When asked explicitly, "so you'll vote in favor of the amendment?", Trump seemed to affirm that he would.
"I'm going to be voting that we need more than six weeks," he told NBC News in an interview, before saying he favored exceptions in abortion law for the life of the mother, rape and incest.
Currently, abortion is not allowed in Florida after six weeks of pregnancy with few exceptions in rare instances. In the general election, voters will be asked to choose whether to protect access to abortion in the state on Amendment 4.
The Trump campaign quickly shot down the idea that the former president indicated how he would be voting.
"President Trump has not yet said how he will vote on the ballot initiative in Florida, he simply reiterated that he believes six weeks is too short." Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign's press secretary said in a statement to NPR.
Former President Trump says if he’s elected again, his administration would fund the fertility procedure known as IVF.
“I was always for IVF. Right from the beginning, as soon as we heard about it,” the Republican nominee said in an interview with NBC News on Thursday.
Trump told NBC he’d support public funding for in vitro fertilization, or a mandate requiring insurance companies to cover it. The procedure to treat infertility can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
“We’re doing this because we just think it’s great. And we need great children, beautiful children in our country, we actually need them,” Trump said in the interview.
Some anti-abortion activists want to restrict or ban IVF because the process typically involves discarding excess embryos. But most voters, including many Republicans, support access to the procedure.
An Alabama Supreme Court decision earlier this year temporarily cut off access to IVF until state lawmakers intervened, forcing many high-profile Republicans to weigh in on the issue.
Trump’s comments come as he appears to be trying to soften his image on reproductive rights ahead of the November election over concerns about voter backlash. Earlier on the campaign trail, he proudly took credit for overturning Roe v. Wade, by appointing three conservative Supreme Court justices.
Last week, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he would be “great for women and their reproductive rights.” That statement drew criticism from some abortion rights opponents including his former vice president, Mike Pence. Trump also recently indicated in a CBS News interview that he would not use a 19th-century anti-obscenity law, the Comstock Act, to restrict abortion pills. That statement also drew pushback from some activists.
The Harris-Walz campaign also responded in a statement to Trump's comments.
"Because Trump overturned Roe v. Wade, IVF is already under attack and women’s freedoms have been ripped away in states across the country," the statement from spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said. "There is only one candidate in this race who trusts women and will protect our freedom to make our own health care decisions: Vice President Kamala Harris.”
Abortion is a key issue in this election, with Democrats warning voters that Republicans would further restrict access to reproductive healthcare if former Trump is elected.
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