Donald Trump back-pedals on “shameful” opinion that women be punished for abortions

Donald Trump put himself at the centre of yet another massive row last night, this time on the issue of abortion.

In an interview with MSNBC, the Republican presidential contender said he believed women who have abortions should face "some form of punishment", if the practice were to become illegal across the US. Democratic presidential frontrunner Hilary Clinton was quick to pounce on Trump's comments. https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/715291004991967232 https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/715302800343883781 Clinton's rival for the Democratic nomination, Bernie Sanders, also slammed Trump, calling him "shameful". https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/715256562491592705 Trump's closest Republican rival Ted Cruz, an avowed pro-lifer, is reported in the FT to have said:

"Once again Donald Trump has demonstrated that he hasn’t seriously thought through the issues, and he’ll say anything just to get attention."

Planned Parenthood went as far as to say that Trump is now "inciting violence against women". https://twitter.com/PPact/status/715253620749570048 Last night, Trump quickly started to back-pedal on his contentious view. In a statement, he called himself "pro-life with exceptions". But in 2013, Trump said in an interview with Howard Stern that when it comes to abortion:

“Somebody asks me, and I say pro-life, but it’s never been an issue that really has been discussed with me in great detail.”

This already looks like it will be further ammo in Hillary Clinton's arsenal, as she launches campaign ads aimed squarely at Trump and his controversial views. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmzc0hvB-oY