At this point, it really shouldn’t surprise any of us but Donald Trump has managed to do something I never would have thought possible. He actually has both abortion opponents and abortion rights supporters agreeing that they both disagree with something he’s said regarding the policy he’d follow if elected president.
In an appearance on MSNBC, Trump said abortion should be illegal and –in response to a question from interviewer Chris Matthews — if it’s illegal, then yes, a woman who gets an abortion should face some sort of punishment. He hasn’t decided yet what that punishment should be –but there should be punishment! Not so many years ago, Trump said he strongly supported a woman’s right to choose when it comes to reproduction –but no more.
He knew he’d go nowhere fast in the Republican presidential race supporting abortion — so old ideas had to be re-considered and I guess jettisoned if they didn’t fit with the new, conservative Trump outlook. I guess it could be a sincere change of heart — but forgive me if I’m having a hard time making myself believe that.
Well, spokespeople for both Pro-life and Pro-choice organizations responded very quickly to disagree with the leading Republican presidential contender and he has walked back his call for punishment — but does it really matter?
His answer that a woman getting an illegal abortion should face punishment shows his lack of understanding of issues, of politics and most important, I think, of simple human compassion. As even abortion opponents pointed out, they have no desire to punish a woman who has just gone through what they termed a painful, difficult decision in her life–no matter how wrong they think her decision may have been. As you can imagine, abortion rights forces were even more disturbed by Trump’s comment.
The real question now is does this comment do anything to his standing in the polls and his continuing run for president? Through the years — all kinds of polls have shown that most Americans do not feel a woman should be forced to continue a pregnancy if she does not want to. The number goes up when people are asked if a woman should be forced to continue a pregnancy that resulted from rape or incest. Can those supporting Trump really look at this comment as coming from someone who is ready to lead this country? Let’s not even get into his comments on the same MSNBC program that nations like South Korea and Japan should have their own atomic weapons so they can be responsible for their own defense and not have to depend on the U.S.
It’s time for people backing Donald Trump to really sit down and think. Does he truly represent what you believe and how you believe this nation should be led into the future?
