In an interview with USA Today late last week, McConnell acknowledged that a federal abortion ban was “possible.” He said: “If the leaked opinion became the final opinion, legislative bodies—not only at the state level but at the federal level—certainly could legislate in that area.”

What does that mean? It means that Republicans are contemplating a federal law to make abortion illegal—everywhere. That is to say: Even in the two dozen or so states that will pass laws, if Roe is overturned, to keep abortion safe and legal in at least some circumstances, the superseding federal ban would make abortion against the law.

Would such a federal law contain any exceptions, for rape and incest and the life of the mother? These were once the standard exceptions that even conservatives agreed to, but this has changed in recent years as the Republicans have gotten more extreme and tossed those exceptions out the window. I assume McConnell is politically savvy enough not to open his party and its candidates up to the charge of forcing 14-year-old girls who were raped by their stepfathers to have those babies. But given the zealousness that’s overtaken his party, McConnell might not be the one calling the shots. He did say he wouldn’t change the filibuster to pass such a law, so he’s trying to thread a needle here—but the fact is that he said what he said, and for the purpose of campaign attack ads, that’s what matters.