Access to abortion, rural health care and gun laws were among topics the two candidates for Arkansas’ 2nd Congressional District volleyed back-and-forth during a televised debate Monday.
Democratic candidate Marcus Jones is challenging Republican incumbent French Hill to represent nearly 750,000 residents in Central Arkansas. Hill has served in the role for nearly 10 years, and Jones, who has nearly three decades of military service, said he hoped Monday’s debate showed contrast between the two.
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Most of the questions asked during the hour-long debate on Arkansas PBS addressed national issues, but candidates consistently related their answers to the potential effect on their constituents.
Regarding abortion, both Hill and Jones said they supported women’s rights and access to health care. They also agreed that they would vote against a nationwide abortion ban.
Hill said he supports exemptions to abortion, such as rape, incest and saving the life of the mother, but the Supreme Court found people do not have a fundamental constitutional right to abortion and that power is left to the states.
“I also voted against Democratic efforts to allow late-term abortions on a national basis … where a baby cannot have resuscitation if they’re born in a botched abortion,” Hill said. “I think that’s cruel, unusual and mean.”
A trigger law in Arkansas took effect soon after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022. Since then, abortion has been banned in the state except to save the mother’s life. A proposed constitutional amendment that would have allowed a limited right to abortion did not make the November ballot due to a paperwork issue.
“A strong nation protects women’s rights,” Jones said. “It does not invade their exam room. Right now, my 19-year-old daughter has [fewer] rights in this state than her grandmother had 50 years ago.”
In a press conference after the debate, Jones said women’s rights are a prominent concern he has heard from voters during his campaign. With Vice President Kamala Harris now at the top of the national Democratic ticket, Jones said he thinks residents will carry their frustrations into the election.
“They feel like their voices were silenced by not getting the abortion amendment onto the ballot here in Arkansas,” he said.
Jones also referenced Hill’s voting record, which includes opposition to the Right to Contraception Act, Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act and the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act.
“That record of voting directly against the interests of women is unacceptable,” Jones said during his press conference.
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Hill opted not to participate in a press conference following the debate.
During the debate, however, Hill expressed his support for Arkansas’ federally funded community health centers that he said provide women with the health care they need.
He said the centers do well to offer care in rural areas, though a national lack of competition in health care and “health inflation” have made it harder for shrinking populations to keep hospitals open.
“I think our counties are fighting back by having county property taxes that support local hospitals — that’s a good thing,” Hill said. “I think that the federal health system has been somewhat supportive in repayments, but there’s some deficiencies.”
Jones acknowledged the state’s rural health and maternal care deserts and said that action from the federal level would help improve residents’ access.
“We have expanded health care in our state, but we can’t sustain it where we’re at right now,” Jones said.
Regarding firearms and keeping children safe, particularly at school, Jones said he saw gun law changes as part of the solution. As a gun owner and someone with nearly 30 years of military service, Jones said he understands the problem.
“We have got to look at common sense solutions for this issue,” Jones said. “It does not violate anyone’s Second Amendment [rights] to keep guns out of the hands of criminals … to close any loopholes on ghost guns that may move to criminals … to look at safe and secure storage options.”
Hill noted that when talking about the “gun issue,” the larger mission is public safety. He said he has supported background check improvements, grant programs to stop violence in schools and behavioral and mental health care for students.
“As a father of two, and they were in high school when I started my run for Congress, no one wants to get a call from their school about any kind of an effort that involves shooting, death or mayhem,” Hill said.
Additional topics in the debate included climate change and the federal government’s disaster response to Hurricane Helene, immigration, tax cuts, tariffs, international affairs, working with the opposite party and social security funding.
The full debate, and Jones’ press conference, can be streamed here in its entirety. Arkansas PBS will also stream the remaining congressional debates this week.
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