Drew Angerer/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — A Democratic senator said that with Brett Kavanaugh now on the Supreme Court she expects the court to chip away at the right to abortion rather than to directly overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling.

Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, told ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl on “This Week” Sunday that she doubts the court will “actually overturn Roe v. Wade” but “even if they don’t, they will nullify it, pretty much.”

Hirono said she opposed the elevation of Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court before his confirmation hearings due to his judicial record, including on reproductive rights.

“I actually studied his cases, and I read his, particularly his dissents, which are very telling, very much against reproductive choice,” Hirono said.

“Of course it matters if [justices] go over there and actually overturn Roe v. Wade, which I doubt they’re going to do,” the Hawaii senator said.

Rather, Hirono suggested that the court is likely to greatly weaken the right to abortion by allowing more state restrictions on it.

“The states are very busy passing all kinds of laws that would limit a woman’s right to choose,” she said. “It’s those things that will go before” the justices.

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