Trump’s Views on Abortion and Women

Credit...Eric Thayer for The New York Times

To the Editor:

Re “Trump’s Call on Abortions Rattles G.O.P.” (front page, March 31):

Donald Trump discomfits his party by speaking without filters. He has yet again performed an invaluable service to the country, this time by (inadvertently) exposing the hypocrisy of the G.O.P. on the issue of the punishment of women who undergo abortions, if the procedure is forbidden by an overturning of Roe v. Wade or by other restrictive laws already passed by state legislatures. Although he later recanted, his revelation still resonates with unusual clarity.

In response to Mr. Trump’s statements, Ted Cruz said that “we shouldn’t be talking about punishing women,” while staunchly favoring no exceptions, even for cases of rape and incest. How can the Republicans consider forcing a woman to bear a fatally deformed child or the child of a rapist not to be “punishing women”?

How is closing medical facilities that offer women’s health care not “punishing women”? How is restricting the use of birth control methods not “punishing women”? The G.O.P. aims to punish women every single day.


Stamford, Conn.

To the Editor:

The festering anger I have felt throughout this Republican campaign season has now boiled over. I am in full outrage mode. This is not the first time Donald Trump’s comments have sparked controversy, nor, sadly, will it be the last.

But calling for women to be “punished” for exercising our right to make our own reproductive decisions highlights exactly what I have found so troubling about the discourse on the Republican side (and it is not just Mr. Trump): men deciding women’s issues, as if we are just too weak to stand up for ourselves.

As if Donald Trump or any of the rest of them should have any say in this matter.


Stamford, Conn.

To the Editor:

Give Donald Trump his due: He seems to have inspired a feminist awakening among the conservative punditry. David Brooks, in his March 29 column, “The Sexual Politics of 2016,” is outraged that a presidential candidate would build his masculinity “upon unvarnished misogyny,” regard women as “objects” and “treat women like dirt.”

Now if Mr. Brooks’s newly enlightened right-thinking brethren could just work up the same dudgeon over the Republican agenda: defunding Planned Parenthood, restricting abortion, blocking equal-pay protections and the rest.

Mr. Trump may be more obnoxious, but relative to his G.O.P. peers in Congress and on the campaign trail, he’s hardly the biggest misogynist. Just the loudest.


Brunswick, Me.

The writer is the journalist and author.

To the Editor:

David Brooks writes, “Donald Trump’s presidential campaign is a revolution in manners, a rejection of the civility codes of the educated class.” This statement definitely privileges the educated as having a monopoly on civility. It discounts the many less fortunate “uneducated” who find Mr. Trump’s commentary repugnant and insulting.



To the Editor:

Many young American girls today are growing up with low self-esteem, poor self-image, insecurities and lack of self-confidence. Many are the victims of bullying, with some even committing suicide because of it.

So Donald Trump is sadly worsening the situation by calling women derogatory and demeaning things like “slobs,” “fat pigs,” “dogs,” “disgusting animals” and “bimbos.” Mr. Trump is obviously a very shallow person who sees women in terms of looks instead of abilities.

And the women who support him are even worse. Would they want their daughters to be called such nasty and disgusting things? By supporting Donald Trump, they are condoning such behavior.


Huntington Beach, Calif.