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| Donald Trump participates in a town hall event in Milwaukee on Tuesday. Photograph: Tannen Maury/EPA |
Women who have abortions should be punished if the practice were illegal, Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump said on Wednesday, before retracting his claim amid an outcry.
Trump, who has held opposing positions on the abortion in the past, said women should receive “some form of punishment” if it were banned in the US. He was unable to say whether he believed the punishment should be a small fine or a long prison sentence.
The remarks prompted an outcry from all quarters, and once again underscored his poor approval ratings among women. The Democratic frontrunner, Hillary Clinton, decribed the comments as “horrific and telling”. Anti-abortion campaigners, who focus their efforts on punishing those who carry out abortions, distanced themselves from the remarks.
Amid the storm, Trump issued a swift clarification of the comments. His position “had not changed”, he said, despite going on to fully recant the earlier statements he made to interviewer Chris Matthews on MSNBC.
The latest Trump conflagration began during the taping of a town hall event, when Matthews asked him to define his “pro-life” stance and assertions that abortion should be banned.
“Do you believe in punishment for abortion – yes or no – as a principle,” asked Matthews.
“The answer is there has to be some form of punishment,” said Trump.
“For the woman?” Matthews said.
“Yeah, there has to be some form,” Trump replied.
“Ten cents, 10 years, what,” Matthews asked again, pressing.
“That I don’t know,” said Trump.
Trump’s hazy stance on abortion ‘punishment’
The 90-second exchange inflamed Democratic pro-choice advocates, Republicans who have criticized Trump for flip-flopping on the issue, and anti-abortion advocates.
In a 1999 interview, Trump described himself as “pro-choice in every respect”, and also said he would not “ban abortion” if he was ever elected president. But his position as a presidential candidate has changed starkly.
Trump later tried to clarify his position in a statement.
However, he seemed to acknowledge that the establishment of any anti-abortion law would fall to Congress or state legislatures.
“If Congress were to pass legislation making abortion illegal and the federal courts upheld this legislation, or any state were permitted to ban abortion under state and federal law, the doctor or any other person performing this illegal act upon a woman would be held legally responsible, not the woman. The woman is a victim in this case as is the life in her womb. My position has not changed – like Ronald Reagan, I am pro-life with exceptions,” the statement said.
Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton wrote in a Twitter post soon after the remarks emerged: “Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse. Horrific and telling.”
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