GOP senator on abortion: "It's time to turn it back to the states"

The big picture: The Indiana senator argued on NBC's "Meet the Press" that trying to "nationalize" the issue would mean that "you're constantly in that area of contention."

• "When it comes to things like abortion, I think it's clear it's time to turn it back to the states, let the diversity of this country show forth," he added.
• When asked by host Chuck Todd if he would criminalize abortion, Braun said, "I'm perfectly comfortable with doing it, just not at the level where everybody's got to live with the same thing."
• "And when you talk about criminalizing it then all you're doing is taking this to a logical extreme that you'll never get to anyway," he argued.

When asked to compare his opposition to individual COVID-19 vaccine mandates to women's right to choose regarding abortion, Braun batted the argument away, stating, "You might try to create that as an issue of equivalency; I don't."

• Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) addressed a similar question on last week's "Meet the Press," stating that "the difference between vaccine mandates and abortions is vaccines allow you to protect yourself. Abortions actually go in and kill other American babies."