Donald Trump is against abortion but he doesn’t know how to tackle the issue. He said on Wednesday that all women who end their pregnancies should be punished if the United States ends up banning abortion.
As criticism came from all sides, he backtracked by saying that states should be responsible for handling the issue. But two differing opinions on the same day were not enough. The Republican frontrunner later stated that doctors who performed abortions should be punished, not women.
“The doctor or any other person performing this illegal act upon a woman would be held legally responsible, not the woman,” the billionaire said in his last statement, as reported by Reuters. “The woman is a victim in this case as is the life in her womb.”
Let’s suppose that is actually his final and definite comment on the matter.
Trump’s first comments led to heavy reactions from abortion opponents and advocates. Rival Republican candidate John Kasich said on Wednesday that women should not face any punishment for deliberately ending their pregnancy. He added that he only accepts abortion in very specific cases like rape.
U.S. Senator and third Republican candidate Ted Cruz said the businessman should think about the issue more deeply and remarked that most pro-life people usually take into account only the unborn child and not the mother’s well-being.
Dawn Laguens of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, which is the political arm of the women’s health group, perceives Trump as “flat-out dangerous, according to a statement.
And Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton wrote on Twitter: “Just when you thought it wouldn’t get worse”.
The controversial Republican candidate once publicly supported abortion access, but he has recently changed his mind to gain support from Republican voters for acting like a total Washington opponent. He must sell himself as a truly conservative person to win over those audiences. However, his Wednesday comments have been perceived as offensive to women and minority groups.
The debate remains open more than 40 years after abortion became legal in the U.S.
Abortion is legal in the United States since 1973, when the Supreme Court ruled that women had a constitutional right to protect her decision to end a pregnancy. Still, the issue has been a divisive issue among American politicians and the most conservative have become strong opponents of abortion.
Source: Reuters