Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell drew distance between himself and grassroots conservatives seeking a national abortion ban.
McConnell (R-Ky.), 82, was evasive about whether he’d support a national ban on abortion and clarified that such legislation would be unlikely to clear the Senate.
“I don’t think we’ll get 60 votes in the Senate for any kind of national legislation. I think as a practical matter, it’s going to be sorted out at the state level,” McConnell said in an interview that aired on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday.
To clear the Senate, any legislation on abortion would need to overcome the 60-vote threshold to break a filibuster.
The long-tenured Kentucky Senator was paramount to the appointment of three conservative Supreme Court justices under the Trump administration that paved the way to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022, reversing nearly five decades of precedent on abortion rights.
When asked whether he’d back a 15-week ban similar to what Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has proposed, the carefully spoken senior Kentucky senator played it coy.
“I’m not advocating anything at this level. I think it’s going to be sorted out all across the country and be very different in different states,” McConnell said.
During the Trump administration, McConnell voted to advance consideration of the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would have drawn the line around 20 weeks of gestation.
That legislation, which was championed by Graham, came before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Versions of it failed in the Senate on at least two occasions, including in 2013 and 2018.
In 2022, McConnell suggested that a national abortion ban would be “possible,” but on Sunday, he clarified that he wasn’t necessarily advocating for that.
“I said it was possible, I didn’t say that in my view,” McConnell said.
His remarks come as Republicans are grappling with the thorny politics surrounding abortion. A myriad of polls have indicated that imposing heavy restrictions on the controversial procedure are unpopular.
Many top political strategists see the issue as a major liability for Republicans heading into the Nov. 5 election, and some have blamed it for the GOP underperforming expectations in the 2022 midterms.
Former President Donald Trump recently recalibrated his approach to abortion, coming out in opposition to a national ban, with an eye on trying to win the presidential election.
“My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both. And whatever they decide must be the law of the land — in this case, the law of the state,” Trump said earlier this month.
McConnell is poised to step down as head of the Senate Republicans, a perch he’s held since 2007, making him the longest party leader in the upper chamber’s history.
Despite being set to depart from that role, McConnell has made clear his desire to help Republicans retake control of the chamber and says he believes the GOP has a favorable map to do so.
Already, a pitched battle is underway to replace him, between Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas).
McConnell said he plans to serve out his remaining current term as senator, which ends in 2027. He’s represented Kentucky in the Senate since 1984.
