Hutchinson: ‘You Got to Draw a Line,’ Parents Have the Key Choice on Transgender Youth Care

Republican presidential candidate former Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR) said Monday on CNN’s “The Lead” that he believed it is constitutionally sound to give parents the choice of what medical treatments their children receive, from vaccines to gender care.

Anchor Jake Tapper said, “You also made an appearance this week at the Family Leadership Summit where you defended your veto. Tucker Carlson asked you about your veto of a 2021 bill in Arkansas that would have banned transgender health procedures for minors. You’ve said that you don’t believe minors should have transgender surgery, but you’ve thought the legislation went too far by interfering with parental choice. It’s something of a nuanced take in this day and age of politics where you’re saying, I don’t agree with this, but parents have the rights, not me. Is there a place for that take in today’s GOP?”

Hutchinson said, “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 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.”