The Patriot Post® · Stumped on Life

[Wednesday] Donald Trump was interviewed by journalist Chris Matthews. At one point in their conversation, Matthews raised the issue of abortion, and asked Trump if women who have abortions should be punished. Here’s the exchange:

MATTHEWS: Do you believe in punishment for abortion, yes or no as a principle?

TRUMP: The answer is that there has to be some form of punishment.

MATTHEWS: For the woman?

TRUMP: Yes, there has to be some form.

Before the evening was over, Trump’s campaign issued multiple clarifications.

Let me be absolutely clear: American Values does not support or oppose candidates for public office. However, we do advocate for certain issues, paramount among them is the sanctity of life.

That said, let me be absolutely clear about this issue: No serious leader in the pro-life movement advocates punishing women if abortion is banned.

The pro-life position is that every abortion negatively affects two people — it seriously wounds the woman while destroying the life of her innocent unborn child.

The notion that conservatives want to put women in jail is one of the worst stereotypes of the left when it comes to the pro-life movement. Laws upholding the sanctity of life will punish the abortionist, not the woman.

As I have noted, we are making progress in advancing the sanctity of life, especially at the state level. But, sadly, we remain a long way away from granting full legal protections to unborn children in America.

South Dakota recently became the 13th state to ban late-term abortions — only the 13th state to do so.

Indiana became the eighth state to ban sex-selection abortions and just the second state to grant legal protections to unborn children with Down syndrome. The American people overwhelmingly oppose abortion just because the child is a boy or a girl. But only eight states prohibit the practice of sex-selection abortions.

Florida became the 12th state to deny tax-payer funding to organizations that perform abortions, including Planned Parenthood. That means 38 states are still giving your hard-earned tax dollars to the nation’s largest abortion provider.

We still have a lot of work to do until the day arrives in America where all of our children are welcomed into the world and protected under the law.

Poll Position

The next big primary contest takes place [four] days from now in Wisconsin. A new poll of the Badger State finds the political landscape is in flux. The poll was conducted by Marquette University, considered to be the gold standard of Wisconsin polling.

One month ago, Donald Trump had a 10-point lead. Now, Senator Ted Cruz is leading by 10 points — Cruz 40%, Trump 30%, Kasich 21%.

A late January Marquette poll, had Hillary Clinton leading Bernie Sanders by two points among Democrat voters. Now, Sanders leads Clinton by four.