Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said Wednesday that women who get an abortion should receive “some form of punishment” if it is ever outlawed, drawing swift condemnation from activists on both sides of the divisive social issue.
Within hours, Trump’s campaign sought to take back his comments in two separate statements, ultimately saying the billionaire businessman believes abortion providers — and not their patients — should be the ones punished.
Trump’s original remarks about abortion came in a heated exchange with MSNBC host Chris Matthews at the Wednesday afternoon taping of a town hall in Green Bay, Wis., scheduled to air that night.
Trump’s remarks were assailed by abortion-rights supporters, but they also unsettled antiabortion activists who said the comments clash with efforts to show empathy with women contemplating whether to have the procedure.
“We have never advocated, in any context, for the punishment of women who undergo abortion,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the national antiabortion group Susan B. Anthony List, said in a statement.
