Asa Hutchinson: “I want to thank particularly the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Graham) for doing an excellent job on shepherding…”

“I want to thank particularly the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Graham) for doing an excellent job on shepherding this legislation through, as well as the chairman of our committee. Yesterday I had a conversation in my office with a lady who is a student at Georgetown University; and I thought, well, I will just ask her her view of this legislation. I said, have you looked at this, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act? She said she had. I said what is your view on it? She said she supported it. I said are you pro-choice or pro-life? She said I am pro-choice. So here is a pro-choice lady, a student at Georgetown University, very thoughtful, who recognized the importance of protecting women by extending the protection in this instance to the loss of the unborn child. I asked her why, and she explained it particularly in those words, that there is nothing more important whenever you have someone commit a violent act against a pregnant woman than that they be held accountable for all of the loss that occurs. I think this is a thoughtful person. I think she describes where we should be able to come together, whether it is pro-choice or pro-life, that this is something we should be able to unite together on. I believe it simply follows the leads of a variety of States that have already given legal protection in the circumstance where a pregnant woman is attacked and there is the loss of the unborn child. Arkansas is a great example of that.”