Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson says a national abortion ban floated by McConnell is ‘inconsistent with what we’ve been fighting for’

• Gov. Hutchinson during an ABC interview dismissed a national abortion ban floated by McConnell.
• “I think it’s inconsistent with what we’ve been fighting for four decades,” he told Martha Raddatz.
• Hutchinson argued that states making their own decisions about abortion “makes sense under the Constitution.”

Arkansas Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Sunday said the national abortion ban that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky suggested during a recent interview is “inconsistent with what we’ve been fighting for.”

McConnell in a recent interview with USA Today said that a national abortion ban is “possible” and opined that such a policy would be “worthy of debate” after a leaked Supreme Court opinion signaled the prospect of Roe v. Wade being overturned.

During a separate interview on ABC’s “This Week,” Hutchinson — who recently indicated that he was weighing a potential 2024 presidential bid – wouldn’t get behind such a far-reaching ban on the procedure and pointed to “some constitutional issues” that might arise under such a legislative proposal.

“I think it’s inconsistent with what we’ve been fighting for four decades, which is that we wanted the Roe v. Wade reversed and the authority to return to the states,” he told host Martha Raddatz. “And so as a matter of principle, that’s where it should be.”

He continued: “If you look at a constitutional or a national standard that goes against that thrust of the states having prerogative, and, secondly, I think there’s some constitutional issues of a national standard as well as to what is the authority of the Constitution to enact that.”

—This Week (@ThisWeekABC) May 8, 2022

Hutchinson contended that states making their respective decisions about abortion “makes sense under the Constitution.”

“If the court reverses Roe v. Wade, they’re saying that the Constitution does not provide that, which returns it to the states,” he said. “And that’s where the vigorous debate is going to be. That is where we’re going to face a lot of concerns on the compassion side.”

Since the draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade was published by Politico last Monday, the revelation has rocked the country. The leak has amplified fissures on the subject from Democratic congressional leaders and left-leaning organizations who want to codify Roe v Wade into law as the anti-abortion movement led by Republican lawmakers and grassroots conservative activists gains momentum. 

The opinion, however, is not final. Many conservatives have also chosen to blast the leak of the document while Democrats have sought to rally their voters around the issue and frame the potential Supreme Court decision overturning the 1973 decision as extreme.