Guest Post by Pro-life Leader Frank Pavone, National Director, Priests for Life
President Trump recently announced that he will vote NO on Florida’s Amendment 4 – a ballot measure that, along with nine others on the statewide ballot – would amend the state Constitution to allow unrestricted abortions and remove people’s ability to do so. and elected representatives to protect the unborn or regulate abortion in reasonable ways.
For reasons that I will explain below, I always thought that President Trump would vote against the 4th Amendment.
NBC News “caught Trump in the abortion net” started the confusion with this interview. This led some pro-life activists to mistakenly conclude that their opposition to Florida’s six-week law meant they would vote for Amendment 4. But the campaign had to show that they has not said how he will vote on Amendment 4. Then, of course, he was sure he would vote NO on Amendment 4.
There are several takeaways from this.
1. Pro-life leaders and activists must stop using Fake News media as a channel of communication with President Trump. What I do know is that controversy after controversy about his stance on abortion has been started by the Fake News media, especially NBC, with the desire to trap him politically in his words and demoralize pro-life voters. (Apart from the above, see here and here and here. Will NBC let someone else take their turn?)
President Trump does not hide from the media and, of course, is responsible for what he says. But they don’t rely on the media as their primary means of communication with us, and neither do we. He has his own website and social media account, where he regularly posts statements and videos. They even have their own Technology and Media Group! He gave rallying speeches constantly. We have to watch them. And he often talks to “parallel media,” the new media, free speech, as we saw with X (recent interview with Elon Musk) and Rumble, not to mention, of course, Truth Social itself.
Why are we so easily disoriented by the left-wing media, especially in the midst of heated political campaigns? Why do we allow them to set the agenda? And why do so many think that social media posts or voiceovers in interviews are the same as federal policy? Aren’t we smarter than that?
2. So why do I believe President Trump will vote against Amendment 4, despite opposition to Florida’s current six-week abortion law? Two simple reasons.
First, since he became President, Trump has been vocally opposed to late-term abortions. It was a turning point in his third debate with Hillary in 2016 when he said it was ripping the baby out of the womb at the end of the pregnancy. “Maybe it’s okay with you but it’s okay with me.” He speaks regularly in State of the Union addresses and in public rally speeches about the need to end late-term abortions. They consistently use Democratic support for unrestricted abortion as a clear sign that they, not us, are the extremists on this issue.
And second, President Trump has expressed his strong belief that states now decide abortion policies, and that each state’s decision should be respected by the federal government, other states, and everyone. But when you look at Amendment 4 (and similar amendments in nine other states), you will see that they tie the hands of the people and their lawmakers, making it unconstitutional to take further action not only to restrict but even regulate abortion. now a “constitutional right.” That only reinforces one side of the abortion debate, and shows no respect for the legislative process or the will of progressives.
So, if you believe citizens should be able to protect their unborn children, you oppose the 4th Amendment and nine other abortion amendments.
3. What is the combination of President Trump’s opposition to both Amendment 4 and to Florida’s six-week limit is to give “prochoice” people “permission” to oppose this extreme ballot measure. In other words, the fight over this ballot initiative is not about making abortion illegal. They are about imposing abortion without restrictions.
So the choice in Florida is not between the 4th Amendment and the six-week limit. The choice is between the 4th Amendment and the right of citizens and lawmakers to set the limits they want. Many people think 6 weeks is too early, but not 12, 15 or 20 weeks. They don’t want to be limited to a choice between a 6-week limit or an abortion until birth.
If the 4th Amendment and the other nine amendments are defeated, the people of the ten states can still set abortion policy, and those who want to change existing laws can draft bills. The Legislature is open for business. And if not enough people agree that abortion laws should be changed, well, welcome to the club. All you have to do is do what you’ve been doing for 50 years: make the case to your peers with vigorous debate, open up, persuade them, elect lawmakers and governors who agree, introduce bills, and lobby to get them done. But this is precisely the process that supporters of abortion are afraid of, because it will reveal whether abortion is true, and how extreme the Democrats are about it.
And that is exactly what President Trump is doing. God bless him for that.
