‘I Sided With The Constitution,’ Says Republican Defending Veto of Trans Care Ban
State should not usurp parents' role in gender-affirming care, Hutchinson says
Although many Republicans across the country have been approving a wave of laws at the state level aimed at curtailing the rights of transgender Americans, Asa Hutchinson went in another direction.
As governor of Arkansas in 2021, Hutchinson vetoed what would be the first law in the nation banning gender-affirming care for minors.
In Arkansas, however, only a simple majority vote is required in both the House and Senate to override a governor's veto. Lawmakers in both chambers easily overrode Hutchinson's veto the following day, clearing the way for the law to take effect later that year.
A federal judge just last month permanently blocked the law from being enforced, a move which Hutchinson — now a longshot candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination for president — said vindicates his veto.
Hutchinson made an appearance this week at an event called the Family Leadership Summit, where he defended his veto in an interview with far-right former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
“Well, we’ll see, but I hope what people see is that I’m an independent thinker. I evaluated this, and there’s a gray area that you got to draw a line. I thought this went too far,” the former governor and one-time congressman said. “The courts have held it unconstitutional, and that parents are have the key responsibility here. Obviously you got to draw the line even with parents but when you’re talking about medical care — whether you’re talking about vaccines that the children take or whether you’re talking about the most sensitive issues that they face, you know, in gender — then the parents have a big role to play. So I sided with parents. I sided with the constitution and the courts upheld that.”
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