Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, is sworn into the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Dirksen Building titled Examining Federal Sentencing for Crack and Powder Cocaine, on Tuesday, June 22, 2021.
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- Hutchinson says the providers who perform illegal abortions should face criminal penalties, not the woman.
- Arkansas was one of the states that banned abortions, following the Supreme Court’s decision.
- On Friday, SCOTUS overturned Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortions nationwide.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson says that providers should face criminal repercussions if they perform an illegal abortion in the state — not the woman — during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
Moderator Chuck Todd asked Hutchinson if there will be “a department in Arkansas that inspects all miscarriages or investigates miscarriages,” to which the governor responded, “No.”
“We obviously have oversight of abortion clinics to make sure that they follow the law. But again, Chuck, this is about a limited ruling on abortion that is historic in nature, will save lives,” Hutchinson said. “But the other decisions, when you’re talking about miscarriages, the exception is, of course, if the life of the mother, if there’s a medical, health emergency, and that’s between the physician.”
He added, “They’re going to make those judgments on how to handle those things. This is simply about abortion.”
—Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) June 26, 2022
Arkansas was among the states that had “trigger laws” that went into effect after the Supreme Court repealed Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that legalized abortion. In the state, the only exception of the law is to save the person’s life, with no exceptions for incest or rape, local news reported.
During the program, Todd asked the Republican governor if physicians who perform a “necessary” abortion if they’re “going to get investigated.”
“They certainly should not,” Hutchinson said.
He added, “They have to make those medical judgments. And it’s not the state’s judgment to reconfigure those or to rethink those. They make those judgments,” Hutchinson said. “And the decision that has to be made is whether there’s an abortion, and then you go after the provider as a criminal penalty, not the woman.”