The Senate Minority Leader says the Supreme Court made the right decision in overturning Roe v. Wade Friday. Mitch McConnell says the ruling allowing states to place limits on abortion is consistent with the law and the Constitution.
“People should feel good about that. Most of these decisions in the future are going to be made through the democratic process,” he says.
Kentucky's senior senator says he doesn't see a national ban on abortion coming to fruition. He says in the Senate, most things require 60 votes to move forward.
"Neither side of this issue has come anywhere close to having 60 votes. So I think this is likely to all be litigated out, dealt with in the various states around the country through the democratic process."
McConnell was asked about concerns the court's opinion could lead to health problems for some pregnant patients, unable to obtain health care. “There’s sensitive views on both sides of this issue," he replied. "What the Supreme Court has in effect done is give this issue to the democratic process and it will play out; all aspects of it, including the one you just asked at the state level.”
McConnell says Friday's decision overturned an established precedent and says sometimes precedent is wrong. He points to how Brown v. Board of Education took down Plessy v. Ferguson.
“The case in 1896 upheld racial segregation on rail cars, which is the way people moved around then. Fifty-eight years later, the Supreme Court in Brown versus Board of Education basically adopted (Judge John Marshall) Harlan’s dissenting opinion bringing down racial segregation in public education.”
McConnell spoke at the Florence Rotary Club meeting Monday afternoon.
