Today In History: Trump Endorses Punishment For Abortions; GM CEO Resigns Per Obama's Request

March 30, 2017, is the 89th day of the year, with 276 days remaining. The moon is in a waxing crescent phase, with illumination at 8 percent.

Barack Obama Asserts Government Control Over Auto Industry

Former chairman and CEO of General Motors Rick Wagoner stepped down from both positions in 2009 at the behest of President Barack Obama in light of turnaround plans from the Detroit-based corporation and Chrysler, raising the prospect of bankruptcy. USA Today has since released a full timeline of GM’s bailout as it played out over the course of five years.

Obama read a statement at the White House expressing his commitment to the survival of a domestic auto industry that could compete on a national level. Wagoner had requested the largest total federal aid of $26 billion, a figure that Obama administration officials feared could increase. General Motors was also tied in with the ill-fated decisions largely responsible for the near-collapse of the American auto industry from 2008-2010.

Donald Trump: Women Should Be Punished For Abortions

One not-so-idle Wednesday in 2016 found Donald Trump, now America’s 45th president, offering his thoughts on the issue of abortion and a woman’s role in the matter.

“There has to be some form of punishment,” he said. The statement was made during an interview with MSNBC’s “Hardball” host Chris Matthews for a town hall meeting.

Few Republican candidates or officeholders have publicly stated positions on whether there should be legal penalties for women who undergo abortions; the chief consensus is that the physicians performing the abortions should be prosecuted. Facing backlash in light of the statement, including a televised reproach from Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich, the Trump campaign issued a followup statement:

“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. The woman is a victim in this case as is the life in her womb. My position has not changed. Like Ronald Reagan, I am pro-life with exceptions.”

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Photo credit: Samantha Appleton, White House photographer (2009)