This controversy inadvertently exposed two fundamental contradictions within the antiabortion movement. First, it wants to present an empathetic face to women, but its approach is paternal and condescending. “The woman is a victim” assumes that women are incapable of making decisions. But that contradiction pales in comparison to the other one raised by Trump’s backtrack. In movies such as “The Silent Scream,” the antiabortion movement has for years provided gory and inaccurate details of the pain and violence of an abortion. So, if abortion is the violent murder of a human being, why not follow this twisted logic and punish women for having one? We don’t hold the perpetrators of any other violent act harmless unless they are insane or acted in self-defense, and the antiabortion movement hasn’t argued women who have abortions fall into either category.