Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has not said whether he supports a 15-week federal ban on abortion, with exceptions, but told NBC’s “Meet the Press”: “I don’t think we’re going to get 60 votes in the Senate for any kind of of national legislation.”
McConnell made clear he believes it’s an issue that should be decided in each state, telling moderator Kristen Welker, “I’m not advocating anything at this level. I think it will be resolved across the country and it will be very different in different states.” States.”
Since the 2022 Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health to eliminate the constitutional right to abortion, states have enacted a patchwork of laws that improve or eliminate access to abortion. 10 states have expanded access to abortion, while 14 states have imposed near-total bans, according to an analysis by the pro-abortion group Center for Reproductive Rights.
Still, some at the federal level, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., have tried to pass national abortion restrictions. In late 2022, following the Dobbs decision, Graham presented a bill This would federally ban most abortions at 15 weeks.
On Thursday, McConnell framed the proposed legislation as purely political, saying, “I don’t think any federal legislation is likely to get 60 votes in the Senate in either direction.”
He added: “It seems to me that opinions on this issue at the state level vary depending on where you are. And we are elected by the states. And my members are smart enough to figure out how they want to deal with this very divisive issue based on the people who actually send them here.”
Over the past two years, Democrats have seized on abortion as a campaign issue, tying Republicans to the Supreme Court ruling and statewide bans.
Earlier this month, former President Donald Trump tried to defuse the issue for his presidential campaign, telling reporters in Atlanta that he wouldn’t sign a federal abortion ban if he arrived at his desk as president.
In Thursday’s interview, Welker also asked McConnell about a statement he did in 2022 when he said: “A national ban is possible.”
“I said it was possible. I didn’t say that was my opinion. I just said it was possible,” McConnell said Thursday, before saying he now didn’t think any measure would get the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
