Former President Donald Trump expects Florida voters to back a November ballot proposal that would put abortion rights in the state constitution, but he didn’t say how he will vote.
Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, said Thursday he’ll hold a future news conference to announce his position on what will appear on the ballot as Amendment 4.
“Florida does have a vote coming up on that, and I think probably the vote will go in a little more liberal way than people thought,” Trump said during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach.
The U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 overturned the decades-old Roe v. Wade decision that ensured abortion access. The proposed Florida constitutional amendment would need support of 60 percent of voters to pass.
A poll released last week by the University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab found 69 percent of likely voters favored the amendment. The Floridians Protecting Freedom political committee started the ballot initiative last year after the Republican-controlled Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis approved a law that prevents women from having most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.
Trump suggested abortion will not be a major issue in the campaign and the outcome in November.
He insisted that the matter “has become much less of an issue” since the Supreme Court returned control of the matter to state governments. Trump argued that Democrats, Republicans and “everybody” are pleased with that ruling.
The former president has not said whether he'll support federal limitations on mifepristone, a drug used to induce abortion, but on Thursday, he wouldn't rule it out.
“There are many things on a humane basis that you can do outside of that, but you also have to give a vote, and the people are going to have to decide.”
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
