PRESIDENTIAL RACE | Trump's infrequent remarks on abortion draw strong reactions

NEW YORK (AP) — Only rarely has Donald Trump broached the topic of abortion during his presidential campaign. Twice, when he has done so, there has been stormy reaction.

Back in March, in an interview with MSNBC, Trump said women should face "some sort of punishment" if they had an abortion in the event the practice was outlawed. Anti-abortion leaders swiftly repudiated him, and he soon backtracked, saying doctors should be punished, but not the women getting abortions.

Last week, in the third and final presidential debate, Trump ignited another firestorm as he sought to undercut Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent, for her strong support for abortion rights.

"Based on what she's saying ... you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb on the ninth month on the final day," Trump said.

Again there was swift reaction, this time from doctors and abortion-rights supporters who said that scenario evoked by Trump doesn't happen.

"No doctor does abortions one or two or three days before term delivery. Ever," tweeted Dr. Jennifer Gunter, a California-based obstetrician-gynecologist. In a post on her blog, Dr. Gunter said the rare decisions to terminate a pregnancy in the ninth month involve severe fetal anomalies, not abortion of a normal pregnancy, and the termination might be accomplished by cesarean section or inducing labor.

Clinton, responding to Trump's "rip from the womb" comment, said, "That is not what happens in these cases."

"The kinds of cases that fall at the end of pregnancy are often the most heartbreaking, painful decisions for families to make," she said. "I do not think the U.S. government should be stepping in and making those most personal of decisions."