Trump backtracks on punishing illegal abortions

Michael Vincent
Mar 31, 2016, updated Apr 03, 2016

Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump has quickly clarified his position on abortion after sparking a torrent of criticism when he said women who end pregnancies should face punishment if the United States bans abortion.

The comments drew the ire of critics, including his White House rivals.

After MSNBC broadcast a clip of an interview with Mr Trump’s comments, the billionaire appeared to backtrack on his remarks by saying that if abortion were illegal the doctor should be punished and that the abortion issue should be handled by states.

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Mr Trump said in the excerpt that even if abortions are banned, some women would access the procedure illegally.

“There has to be some form of punishment,” he said. But asked what form he would advocate, Mr Trump said: “I don’t know”.

Mr Trump’s comments unleashed a flurry of criticism, and his campaign quickly emailed a statement to Reuters in which Mr Trump moderated his view.

“This issue is unclear and should be put back into the states for determination,” Mr Trump said in the statement.

Mr Trump later followed up with a second statement saying a doctor carrying out the illegal act would be responsible and not the woman.

“The woman is a victim in this case as is the life in her womb,” he said.

Kasich says punishment not ‘an appropriate response’

The billionaire has been under pressure to demonstrate he is conservative on issues such as abortion but rivals also have criticised him for comments that offended women and minority groups.

But Mr Trump’s latest remarks drew furore from across the political spectrum.

“Of course women shouldn’t be punished,” rival Republican candidate John Kasich, the governor of Ohio, told MSNBC.

Mr Kasich said he opposed abortion except in specific cases such as rape, and he has defunded groups that offer the service.

“I think probably Donald Trump will figure out a way to say that he didn’t say it or he was misquoted … I don’t think that’s an appropriate response,” Mr Kasich said.

US Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, the third candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, earlier this year released an ad saying voters could not trust Mr Trump because he has not always opposed abortion.

Senator Cruz’s spokesman Brian Phillips on Wednesday tweeted that Mr Trump did not understand the position of abortion opponents.

March for Life, an anti-abortion group, said in a statement that activists want women to “consider paths to healing, not punishment”.

“No pro-lifer would ever want to punish a woman who has chosen abortion. This is against the very nature of what we are about,” the group said.

Clinton: ‘Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse’

Abortion supporters also took Mr Trump to task.

“Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse. Horrific and telling,” Hillary Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner, wrote on Twitter.

Dawn Laguens of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the political arm of the women’s health group, called Mr Trump “flat-out dangerous” in a statement, saying that “women’s lives are not disposable”.

Mr Trump’s insurgent campaign for the Republican nomination for the November 8 election has opened discord in the party, and on Tuesday, both Mr Trump and Mr Kasich abandoned pledges to support the party’s eventual nominee.

The next test for Mr Trump’s popularity is the Republican primary in Wisconsin on Tuesday.

– ABC

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