The anti-abortion lobby endorsed Asa Hutchinson today. Not exactly a surprise. Release on jump.
The Republican candidate is right on one thing. It’s of critical importance that A$a wants Roe v. Wade off the books and his Democratic opponent Mike Beebe does not.
If Roe is overturned, abortion would be illegal in Arkansas. Republicans would then like to prosecute doctors (though not the “murdering” mothers), regardless of circumstances (fetuses with no chance of life outside the womb for example, but the potential for harm to a mother’s health in a full-term pregnancy.) Hutchinson’s preference on public policy would prohibit government payment of an abortion for a raped, retarded teen (the policy followed in an actual case by Gov. Mike Huckabee until a federal court forced a course correction). His preference likely would prohibit even distribution of morning-after pills to minors raped by their fathers.
Yes, the candidates’ difference is an important distinction. No amount of A$a’s attempt to waffle on this by saying he personally might allow abortions in case of rape or incest can paper over the indelible bottom line. Roe preserves, absolutely, the right to abortion for a woman in great need. Its override ends a woman’s dominion over her body.