Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who supported a near-absolute ban on abortions in his own state, told ABC Sunday he would oppose a national abortion ban.
Republican Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson is at Capitol hill.
Hutchinson told This Week host Martha that he supports striking down the abortion policy of Wade so that it can be returned to the states.
If the Supreme Court overturns the landmark 1973 decision that legalized abortion, Arkansas would be one of 13 states that would immediately ban the procedure.
Attempting to perform an abortion in Arkansas is a felony that can lead to imprisonment and a fine of up to $100,000, if the abortion is necessary to save a pregnant woman's life.
The law does not allow for charges to be brought against women who attempt to have an abortion.
The law doesn't include exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape or incest, but Hutchinson told ABC he supports revising the law to include those exceptions.
A leaked Supreme Court draft opinion shows that the court voted to strike down both the abortion law of Wade and the abortion law ofCasey. The leaked draft, which Chief Justice John Roberts said is authentic but doesn't necessarily reflect the court's final position, was written by conservative Justice Samuel Alito. The Washington Post reported Monday that some Republican legislators and anti-abortion groups are working on a national ban on most abortions if the Supreme Court overturns Wade. Senate Majority LeaderMitch McConnell told USA Today if the Supreme Court overturns the Wade decision, both local and national abortion bans were possible.
The Supreme Court is considering a case in which a Mississippi law sought to ban all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The court is expected to rule on the issue by the end of its current session, which is expected to end in late June or early July.
Over the past 15 years, support for abortion rights has grown overwhelmingly among Democrats while remaining fairly unpopular among Republicans. The share of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who supported keeping abortion legal in all or most cases fell from 39% to 38% over the past five years. According to a March survey, 61% of Americans think abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 37% think it should be illegal in all or most cases.
Arkansas is one of 12 states that have created laws to ban abortion if the Supreme Court overturns Wade. According to the Guttmacher Institute, there are 16 states with laws protecting the right to abortion.
If the Supreme Court overturns the Wade decision, the states will have abortion protections.
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