Donald Trump's Abortion Answer Wasn't Wrong, the Question Was

Donald Trump was correct when he said a woman who had an outlawed abortion would likely be punished.  However, the most likely way of ending abortions would be through regulation of those providing medical treatment.   Chris Matthews question implied that abortion would become a criminal offense. In that case the woman as a participant in the "crime" would be subject to prosecution probably as an accessory, an accomplice or a "co-conspirator". The courts might not allow prosecution unless the woman was potentially subject to prosecution.  In such a legal environment prosecutors might use the offering of immunity from prosecution to abortion recipients in exchange for testimony against the abortion provider. 

In American medicine medical procedures that can pose a treat to health generally have to be approved by government.   The most likely way to prohibit abortions would be through prohibiting specific medical procedures.   This approach at the federal level wouldn't necessarily require congressional action because the executive branch has authority to prohibit medical  procedures. 

The deaths associated with the most popular form of abortion in which the doctor basically pokes around in the woman to pull out the baby, sometimes in pieces, could justify prohibiting the procedures on the grounds that it poses too significant a threat to the woman's health.  The procedure sometimes causes fatal bleeding because the doctor cannot tell if he has caused bleeding. There is an alternative procedure available for late term pregnancies which  poses less of a threat. Removing the baby using a cesarean section allows the doctor to easily monitor the situation and catch any source of bleeding.  Requiring use of this procedure for premature ending of a pregnancy  would have the benefit  of the child being removed alive.  This approach to ending a late term pregnancy  should  give both sides what they want.  The woman would be allowed to end her pregnancy and the child would be born alive.