In recent weeks, Donald Trump has made clear that he’s prepared to pursue a national abortion ban if voters return him to the White House, with the former president suggesting he might support imposing government restrictions at either the 15-week or 16-week point.
When Fox News asked the Republican whether he believes a 16-week national abortion ban “could be politically acceptable,” the presumptive GOP nominee replied, “So, we’re gonna find out.” Trump added, “Pretty soon, I’m gonna be making a decision.”
Interest in his position took on new urgency this week, when the Florida Supreme Court’s conservative majority cleared the way for a six-week abortion ban in the Sunshine State — Trump’s adopted home state — while simultaneously ruling that Floridians can decide in the fall whether or not to enshrine abortion rights protections into the state Constitution.
It was against this backdrop that NBC News reported:
Former President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that his campaign will address the issue of abortion next week, just after a Florida court paved the way for a six-week ban on the procedure. At a campaign rally here, Trump addressed a question from NBC News: “Do you support the six-week abortion ban the Florida Supreme Court just upheld?”
The Republican eventually responded, “We will be making a statement next week on abortion.”
It’s worth emphasizing that just because Trump said to expect a statement next week, there’s no reason to believe there will actually be a statement next week. On the contrary, he has an unmistakable habit of pushing off difficult questions by saying an answer will be forthcoming — “two weeks“ tends to be his preferred timeframe — and then never actually following through.
Is it possible that Trump will make some kind of declaration on abortion policy within the next seven days? Sure. Should the former president’s assurances be taken at face value? Of course not.
But as the Republican and his political operation weigh their next steps, they should also probably take a look at the latest polling on the issue.
In fact, it was just last week when Fox News released the results of its latest national poll, which should probably be taken seriously at Mar-a-Lago. Nearly two years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a record number of voters think abortion should be legal, with two-thirds favoring nationwide law guaranteeing access, according to a Fox News national survey. Fifty-nine percent think abortion should be legal in all or most cases, up from the previous high of 57% in September 2022. … Support for legalization is up (mostly by double-digits) across the board since April 2022, two months before Roe was overturned.
When respondents were specifically asked whether they favor or oppose a law guaranteeing access to legal abortion nationwide, the results pointed to a two-to-one margin: 65% of Americans said they support such a law, while 32% said they oppose it. In other words, roughly two-thirds of Americans want national abortion protections, as Trump leaves little doubt that he intends to impose a national abortion ban. It was nearly six years ago when the then-Republican president said that he believed abortion rights is “a 50/50 question in this country.” In other words, as Trump saw it, the United States is evenly divided on the issue of reproductive rights. But it’s not. Extensive public-opinion research shows one side of the divide with an advantage — which has grown since Republican-appointed Supreme Court justices delivered a highly unpopular ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
Latest Post
Recommended
