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The Donald Trump campaign released a statement shortly after a portion of Mr. Trump's remarks on abortion in an interview with MSNBC aired on Wednesday.
In the statement, Trump sought to clarify that those who provide illegal abortions should be punished, not the women who obtain them.
"If Congress were to pass legislation making abortion illegal and the federal courts upheld this legislation, or any state were permitted to ban abortion under state and federal law, the doctor or any other person performing this illegal act upon a woman would be held legally responsible, not the woman," he wrote.
"The woman is a victim in this case as is the life in her womb,” said Trump.
“My position has not changed," he went on. "Like Ronald Reagan, I am pro-life with exceptions, which I have outlined numerous times."
Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich have openly condemned Trump’s earlier comments on abortion.
Clinton called his position on punishment for women who obtain abortions illegally “horrific and telling.” Similarly, Sanders called it “shameful.”
Fellow GOP contender Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who favors an abortion ban with certain exceptions such as rape and incest, said in an interview, “Of course, women shouldn’t be punished.”
“I think, probably, Donald Trump will figure out a way to say that he didn’t say it or that he was misquoted or whatever, but I don’t think that’s an appropriate response,” he said.
“It’s a difficult enough situation than to try to punish somebody,” Kasich added.