Arkansas governor defends veto of transgender bill

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Sunday defended his veto of a bill that would prohibit gender reassignment surgery and treatment — that the state legislature later overrode.

“I said, that’s too much, and this interferes with patient care. It interferes with parental decisions on an area that science is continuing to learn more about,” the Republican governor said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “These are tough areas, tough areas. And what we have to do is, we can debate them on conservative principles, but let’s show compassion and tolerance and understanding as we do that​,” he said.​