At an MSNBC town hall discussion on Wednesday, Donald Trump unburdened himself of his “thoughts” about abortion and, in doing so, showed again why he’s unfit to be president.
During an interview with Chris Matthews, he twice said “there has to be some form of punishment” for women who have abortions.
Trump’s campaign quickly backtracked, and after a series of clarifications ended up saying doctors who perform abortions, not women who procure them, should face legal consequences in the event abortion is criminalized.
Thoughtful abortion opponents believe that abortion involves two victims, the unborn baby, whose life is destroyed, and the mother, who in many cases is wounded physically or psychologically.
This view informs pro-lifers’ emphasis on legislation intended to protect women’s health, such as statutes that require abortionists to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals in case of complications and laws that seek to shut down dangerous back alley clinics in which women are maimed.
Trump’s remarks damaged both his campaign and the pro-life cause, while giving credence to the left-liberal slanders that pro-life advocates hate women. Opponents of abortion believe that the abortion industry exploits women and that it is the abortionist who must be held accountable.
There are two possible explanations for Trump’s response, and neither speaks well of him.
One is that he hasn’t thought the issue through. The other is that he believed his answer would endear him to pro-lifers.
But his remarks have had the opposite effect. By embracing the Democrats’ caricature of abortion opponents, he has made it clear he knows little about the cause he claims to espouse, or its goals or what motivates its members.
Trump has done this before on other issues. His call for a ban on Muslim immigration seems not to have been the result of serious thought. Rather, it was likely a position taken on the spur of the moment as a way to ingratiate himself to immigration hardliners.
This week’s crack-up on abortion casts doubt on the sincerity of Trump’s professed pro-life beliefs. He has said (and written in the Washington Examiner) that he underwent a conversion after decades of supporting abortion rights.
But his conversion story is less than convincing. He says he evolved from being “pro-choice in every respect” to being pro-life with exceptions after having an epiphany when a friend was pregnant and considering abortion.
She didn’t, and the child turned out to be, in Trump’s estimation, “a total superstar, a great, great child.” That the child turned out to be healthy or successful or good-looking or whatever Trump means by “a superstar” does not validate the pro-life position.
Pro-lifers believe all human life is precious, and that the life of the superstar is of equal dignity and value to the life of a child with severe disabilities. This is why pro-lifers support legislation banning eugenics.
Trump’s campaign spokeswoman on Thursday called Trump’s remarks a “complete misspeak.” From one perspective, that’s true. This episode demonstrates the hazards of speaking off the cuff on sensitive issues, especially when one has not thought them through and has no well-founded convictions on the subject.
But from another perspective, it’s not that Trump misspoke about abortion but that he misunderstands who pro-lifers are and what motivates them. “Pro-woman, pro-life” is not just a bumper sticker slogan. It is the core of the pro-life ethos.
