Former President Donald Trump criticized Republican Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson for vetoing a bill that would ban youth gender reassignment surgeries in a Thursday statement.
“Asa Hutchinson, the lightweight RINO Governor of Arkansas, just vetoed a Bill that banned the CHEMICAL CASTRATION OF CHILDREN. ‘Bye-bye Asa,’ that’s the end of him!” Trump said in a statement.
“Fortunately for the Great State of Arkansas, Sarah Huckabee Sanders will do a fantastic job as your next Governor!” the former president added.
Hutchinson announced Monday he would veto the bill that would ban gender reassignment surgeries for minors. The act would have prohibited doctors from performing the surgeries.
Hutchinson said the bill was “vast government overreach” and suggested the state should not be involved in every “medical, human, and ethical issue.”
Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR) announces he has vetoed HB 1570, the bill that would restrict care for trans youth. pic.twitter.com/pcMY87stVu
— The Recount (@therecount) April 5, 2021
“HB 1570 would put the state as the definitive oracle of medical care, overriding parents, patients, and healthcare experts,” he said. “While in some instances the state must act to protect life, the state should not presume to jump into the middle of every medical, human, and ethical issue. This would be, and is, a vast government overreach.” (RELATED: Former Trans Woman Praises Laws Banning Sex Change Surgeries, Puberty Blockers For Minors)
Hutchinson’s decision was criticized heavily by conservatives nationwide.
Asa Hutchinson, the useless coward governor of Arkansas, vetoed a bill that would have banned the chemical castration of children. Somehow Noem got a lot more criticism from the right for her veto. She deserved the flack she got, but Hutchinson is significantly worse.
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) April 6, 2021
American Principles Project Director of Policy and Government Affairs Jon Schweppe told the Daily Caller News Foundation Tuesday that “almost all conservatives understand that government still has a role to play in protecting its citizens from harm – and young children truly are being harmed right now by those in the medical establishment who are placing an extreme ideology above science.”
Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson suggested Hutchinson was “pro-choice for chemical castration” of children on Tuesday night.
“I think of you as a conservative,” Carlson said. “Here you have come out publicly as pro-choice on the question of chemical castration of children. What changed?”
The state legislature, however, voted to override Hutchinson’s veto of the bill on Tuesday, making Arkansas the first state to ban transgender surgeries and procedures for minors.