The Associated Press has abandoned all nuance in its coverage of the Florida abortion debate in favor of a convenient narrative about Donald Trump’s fecklessness on the issue.
The report — “Trump Says He’ll Vote to Uphold Florida Abortion Ban after Seeming to Signal He’d Support Repeal” — implies that, because the former president said the state’s six-week abortion ban was too restrictive, he must support a ballot referendum that would allow abortion without limits up until fetal viability.
Trump “said he will vote no on a Florida ballot measure that would repeal the state’s six-week abortion ban, a day after he seemed to indicate he would vote in favor of the measure,” writes AP national political reporter Michelle Price.
Nowhere in the article does Price acknowledge the blinding day light that exists between opposition to Florida’s heartbeat law and support for a ballot measure that opens the door to a radical expansion of abortion and could even pave the way to taxpayer-funded abortion.
When asked on Thursday if he would vote for the ballot measure, Trump said that “I think the six-week [abortion ban] is too short. There has to be more time, and I’ve told them that I want more weeks.” His comments seemingly left the door open to supporting Amendment 4.
However, one day later, he clarified that he would not be supporting the amendment, apparently disappointing the AP.
“I think six weeks, you need more time than six weeks, I’ve disagreed with that, right from the early primaries, when I heard about it, I disagreed with it. At the same time, the Democrats are radical because the nine months is just a ridiculous situation,” Trump said. “You can do an abortion in the ninth month. Some of the states like Minnesota and other states have it where you can actually execute the baby after birth, and all of that stuff is unacceptable, so I’ll be voting ‘no’ for that reason.”
The ballot measure would not simply repeal an abortion law that Trump finds too restrictive, as Price suggests; it would, through deceptively vague language, create a radically permissive abortion regime that Trump has expressed revulsion toward on many occasions throughout his political career.