The Republican presidential nominee was asked in an interview with NBC News on Thursday how he would vote this November on the [Florida] state’s ballot measure to protect abortion.
“I am going to be voting that we need more than six weeks,” he said when pressed. (Voters cannot choose a number of weeks into a pregnancy that abortion should be permitted. They can only choose “Yes” to support the amendment or “No” to reject it.)
“If Donald Trump loses, today is the day he lost,” conservative pundit Erick Erickson wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“The committed pro-life community could turn a blind eye, in part, to national abortion issues. But for Trump to weigh in on Florida as he did will be a bridge too far for too many.”
Albert Mohler Jr, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote on X that Trump's comments on reproductive rights, including on the six-week ban, "seem almost calculated to alienate prolife voters".
“Pro-life Christian voters are going to have to think clearly, honestly, and soberly about our challenge in this election - starting at the top of the ticket," he said.
The November ballot initiative would amend the Florida constitution to protect abortion access in the state until the point of foetal viability, which is about 23-25 weeks of pregnancy.
As it stands, the state has a near-total ban on abortion, as many women do not know they are pregnant at six weeks.
The proposed amendment states: “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.”
