There will be a six-week abortion ban in place when voters head to the polls in Florida in the fall to vote for not just the president and a U.S. senator, but also on whether abortion should be enshrined in the state constitution. That collocation has Republicans nervous and Democrats skeptically optimistic that Florida could be back on the map for the party.
Some Republicans have been airing their anxieties publicly — but none quite as obviously as Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), who is the senator up for reelection in the fall. Just two days ago he walked back his previous support for his state’s six-week abortion ban and declared in an interview with The Hill that a 15-week one is actually much better.
“So if I was writing a bill, I’d think that 15 weeks with the limitations is where the state’s at,” he told The Hill. “I think it’s important we do what there’s consensus (for).”
Perhaps he got some feedback he didn’t like from the anti-abortion groups who have long supported his “pro-life” governing. Because in an interview with the local Spectrum News in Tampa Bay, Scott switched gears, saying he would sign the six-week ban if he were still governor.
Here’s the exchange:
Holly Gregory (Spectrum News 13): Senator, I have to pivot to the issue of abortion because the Hill reported yesterday that you would back a 15-week abortion ban, but not the six-week that’s about to go into effect in Florida. Didn’t you previously say that you would have signed the six-week ban if you were governor? And what exactly is your position on abortion?
Rick Scott: Sure. Well, as governor, I was governor for eight years. I signed every abortion, you know, pro-life bill. You know, I signed every pro-life bill that came in front of me. And if I was the sitting governor and the six-week abortion ban came in front of me, I would sign it. I’ve always said I would sign it.
The Florida Democratic Party eagerly seized on the exchange.
It’s not a complete 180 from what he said earlier in the week, but clearly he’s doing some cleanup as he, like every Republican campaigning this cycle — especially Donald Trump — struggles to position himself on an issue that has backfired on Republicans consistently since June 24, 2022.
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