Lindsey Graham

"If we adopted my bill, we would be in the mainstream of the rest of the world," Graham said.

[Influx of out-of-state patients causes abortion delays](https://www.axios.com/local/austin/2022/09/12/texans-out-of-state-patients-abortions-delays) Wade](https://www.axios.com/2022/06/24/roe-wade-decision-abortion) has shifted focus on abortion and broader health care access. [issue for voters](https://www.axios.com/2022/08/02/half-voters-abortion-november-midterm-elections)following the Supreme Court's decision to [overturn Roe v. - "President Biden and Congressional Democrats are committed to restoring the protections of Roe v. [people traveling](https://www.axios.com/2022/07/21/out-of-state-abortion-increase-research) [across state lines](https://www.axios.com/2022/08/03/abortion-travel-increase-post-dobbs-roe-decision) in the [post-Roe landscape](https://www.axios.com/2022/06/25/abortion-illegal-7-states-more-bans-coming) and testing reproductive health providers in states that don't have abortion bans, [writes Axios' Oriana Gonzalez.](https://www.axios.com/2022/09/09/abortion-clinics-overwhelmed-after-roe) - "Rather than expanding women's rights, MAGA Republicans would curtail them. Wade](https://www.axios.com/2022/06/24/roe-wade-decision-abortion). Driving the news: "We will introduce legislation ... [Abortion dominates health care conversation in 8th District race](https://www.axios.com/local/denver/2022/09/13/abortion-health-care-8th-district-race-colorado) [Senate Republicans share abortion talking points](https://www.axios.com/2022/05/03/senate-republicans-abortion-talking-points) Lindsey Graham](https://www.axios.com/2022/08/07/lindsey-graham-same-sex-marriage-states) (R-S.C.) introduced a [bill](https://www.lgraham.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/3065785d-86b8-4d36-986a-72aa1c8f100c/protecting-pain-capable-unborn-children-from-late-term-abortions-act-.pdf) on Tuesday that would ban abortion nationally after 15 weeks. [Politics & Policy](https://www.axios.com/politics-policy)

His past, less conservative pitch won him some Democratic votes. But most Republicans stiff-armed him Tuesday as they face abortion-rights backers ascendant ...

He accused Democrats of supporting abortion-access legislation that he called a “Chinese genocide” bill which would allow abortion up until the moment “a child takes its first breath.” Several Republican senators said they are largely disinterested in rallying behind the bill at a critical moment in the battle for the Senate. A spokesperson for Washington GOP Senate nominee Tiffany Smiley said that she opposes the Graham bill and believes that states should decide their abortion laws. “I mean, what the hell is he talking about?” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that questions about the bill should be directed to Graham and that most Republican senators “prefer this be handled at the state level.” Sen. “Raphael Warnock wants to protect the killing of babies right up to the moment of birth. and those who want to set some sort of minimum standard,” Cornyn said of the 50-member Senate GOP conference. “There’s obviously a split of opinion in terms of whether abortion law should be decided by the states … “There is a consensus view by the most prominent pro-life groups in America that this is where America should be at the federal level,” Graham said. “I don’t think there’s much of an appetite to go that direction.” Graham’s past pitches for a 20-week abortion ban attracted most Republicans’ support and even the votes of some Senate Democrats. Yet Graham’s bill also attempted to skate past a Republican Party that’s divided over whether Congress should even be legislating on abortion after the Supreme Court struck down a nationwide right to terminate pregnancies.

WASHINGTON — Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina introduced legislation on Tuesday that would institute a federal ban on abortions after 15 weeks of ...

On the Senate floor, Mr. Anthony List had persuaded him to move the threshold to 15 weeks from 20 weeks, the point at which abortion would have been banned under a bill he previously introduced. Still, Democrats seized on the measure to paint Republicans with a broad brush. And it left no question that, if Republicans regain control of the Senate in November, at least some of them plan to pursue the kind of national abortion ban that Mr. In addition to Mr. Graham’s bill that “Republicans in Congress are focused on taking rights away from millions of women.” There has been a backlash, even in the most conservative states, to restrictions. Graham’s bill, Mr. Moving quickly after the Supreme Court’s ruling, at least 12 Republican-led states have put into place severely restrictive laws that go much further than Mr. When pressed on the details of Mr. “If the Democrats are in charge, I don’t know if we’ll ever have a vote on our bill.” “If we take back the House and the Senate, I can assure you we’ll have a vote on our bill,” Mr.

Hardline South Carolina senator plans for new bill on national abortion restrictions, with fewer than 60 days until midterms.

[told a weekend rally](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/12/john-fetterman-pennsylvania-rally-abortion) that abortion rights were at the top of his agenda. [Previous versions of Graham’s bill](https://www.lgraham.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2021/1/graham-reintroduces-20-week-abortion-ban) have outlawed abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, but at a press conference on Tuesday he was unveiling a proposed ban that takes effect after 15 weeks, an attempt to [align federal law with Florida](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/09/florida-abortion-ban-ron-desantis-roe-v-wade). While nine Republican-controlled states moved quickly to enact abortion bans, others have witnessed a significant backlash. “Women are the reason we can win. [unwilling to lift the filibuster](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/11/mitch-mcconnell-senate-republicans-could-not-pass-abortion-ban) - a procedure that requires a bill to win the support of 60 senators – for the abortion issue. It stands almost no chance of becoming law, but is seen by analysts as an attempt to frame the discussion around abortion, with fewer than 60 days until the midterms. [rejected abortion restrictions](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/12/how-abortion-rights-won-kansas-strategies) by a large margin, and pro-choice advocates recorded a notable victory earlier this month when the Michigan supreme court ruled 5-2 that the fate of an abortion ban would be [in the hands of the midterms electorate](https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/08/michigan-supreme-court-puts-abortion-on-november-ballot-00055774) rather than the state legislature. [midterm elections approach](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/11/kamala-harris-midterm-elections-voting-rights) and Republicans put forward many rightwing candidates, decrying so-called Maga Republicansas [semi-fascis](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/26/biden-trump-republicans-fascism-speech-maryland)t and [“Trumpies.”](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/05/joe-biden-labor-day-speech-wisconsin-unions) [including South Carolina](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/09/south-carolina-republicans-democrats-abortion) have seen recent efforts to introduce abortion bans falter, and Democrats are certain to use Graham’s push to fire up their base and repeat [earlier warnings](https://apnews.com/article/abortion-health-mitch-mcconnell-government-and-politics-3cf10d1e1b3dc46ea202a466a86ae9ea) that their opponents’ agenda has always been the pursuit of outlawing abortion nationally. [said in a statement](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/09/13/statement-by-press-secretary-karine-jean-pierre-on-proposed-national-abortion-ban/). [57% of Americans disapproved](https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/07/15/key-facts-about-the-abortion-debate-in-america/) of the court’s June [reversal of the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/24/roe-v-wade-overturned-abortion-summary-supreme-court) guaranteeing access to abortion, and 62% say the procedure should be legal in all or most cases. [Republicans](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/republicans) in Congress are focused on taking rights away from millions of women.”

Lindsey Graham has proposed a 15 week national abortion ban. Some Republicans are dismissing the notion.

The proposed 15-week abortion ban is more stringent than 20-week bans that Graham has pursued in the past. “There’s obviously a split of opinion in terms of whether abortion law should be decided by the states, which is my preference … But I don’t think there will be a rallying around that concept,” But this year, Democrats have been gaining momentum as young women are registering to vote at higher rates and [pollsters increasingly believe Democrats could hold the Senate](https://onlysky.media/jpearce/could-the-scotus-roe-v-wade-opinion-really-help-the-democrats/). [hobbled by the extreme unpopularity of the Supreme Court’s summer decision overturning Roe](https://onlysky.media/mjohnson/spike-in-womens-voting-reg-since-roe-defeat-could-shift-midterms-to-dems/). “I don’t think there’s an appetite for a national platform here.

The South Carolina Republican dropped a surprise bomb into the middle of Democrats' inflation party. President Joe Biden speaks.

A Democrat working on governors’ races called it “the cherry on top” of the day. In Colorado, Republican Senate candidate Joe O’Dea derided the “pep rally” at the White House as “arrogant,” but he conceded that the Graham bill was “as reckless and tone deaf as is Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer’s hostility to considering any compromise” on abortion. Strutting back and forth on set with his trademark aviator sunglasses and wielding a handheld microphone, Biden didn’t mention Graham — but took square aim at some of his Republican Senate colleagues, blasting Rick Scott and Ron Johnson by name for their efforts to raise taxes on the working and middle class. Other aides suggested that the comments continued a Democratic winning streak that started mid-summer and began to imagine holding onto both houses of Congress. The South Carolina Republican’s 15-week national abortion ban immediately diverted and divided Republicans and left Biden’s aides shocked at the political lifeline they’d just been handed. A higher-than-expected inflation report was threatening to black out President Joe Biden’s big celebration Tuesday of party-line legislation designed to bring down prices.

Four women surround Senator Graham as he stands at a lectern making an announcement. Sen. Lindsey Graham announces a new bill on abortion restrictions on ...

[no longer favored](https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/06/election-forecast-dems-gops-senate-00054842) to win control of the Senate and are preparing for the prospect of a [narrow majority in the House](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/08/us/politics/republican-house-majority-midterms.html). In Kansas, voters turned out in record numbers to resoundingly reject a constitutional amendment that would have allowed state lawmakers to further [restrict abortion access in the state](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/8/2/23278845/kansas-abortion-vote-constitutional-amendment). In [New York’s 19th](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/8/24/23319493/winners-losers-new-york-florida-primaries) District, the Democratic winner of a special election centered his campaign on abortion access. Young people (particularly young women) are also [registering to vote](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/9/4/23333329/roe-voter-registration-dobbs-midterms-democrats) at a significantly higher rate in states where abortion rights are under threat. Republicans, however, claim it is only a ban on “late-term abortions,” seemingly in an effort to paint Democrats as extreme for [supporting a bill](https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/11/senate-doomed-vote-roe-abortion-rights-00031732) that would have banned states from enacting many kinds of abortion restrictions. According to the Guttmacher Institute, [44 states](https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/state-policies-later-abortions) ban abortion after a certain point in pregnancy, most after about 20 weeks since the pregnant person’s last menstrual period. [long-running survey by Gallup](https://news.gallup.com/poll/1576/abortion.aspx). Given these concerns — and Democrats’ support for abortion access — there’s little chance of Graham’s bill coming up for a vote this year. There’s also a concern that demand from states that have banned or severely restricted abortion could stretch abortion clinics’ resources thin, forcing pregnant people to wait longer than they might have previously for an abortion. On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell did not take a stance himself and It includes exceptions for cases of rape, incest, and to save the life of the pregnant person. Though most abortions happen earlier in pregnancy, many medical anomalies, including ones that are inconsistent with life, can only be detected in tests conducted at the 20-week mark.

The bill bans abortion at 15 weeks, though it's still unlikely to garner enough votes to pass.

[Graham to introduce bill that would restrict abortions nationwide](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/13/abortion-graham-republicans-nationwide-ban/) (Washington Post) [Sen. Opponents of abortion rights have [looked](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/02/07/abortion-ban-florida-texas-roe-supreme-court/) to 15-week bans as a less politically divisive way to restrict the procedure, with [Florida](https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2022/03/03/florida-lawmakers-pass-15-week-abortion-ban---other-states-will-likely-follow/?sh=1d6e6eb8266b) and [Arizona](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/arizona-governor-signs-15-week-abortion-ban-into-law-2022-03-30/) recently enacting 15-week laws and Virginia Gov. [Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/05/02/abortion-ban-roe-supreme-court-mississippi/) [reported](https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2022/05/02/republicans-will-try-to-ban-abortion-nationwide-if-supreme-court-overturns-roe-v-wade-report-reveals/?sh=2d2dd1ba23ed) in May that GOP lawmakers were considering introducing legislation that would ban the procedure as soon as six weeks into a pregnancy if the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Once the court actually did so, sparking a backlash among voters who overwhelmingly [support](https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2022/08/02/vast-majority-of-americans-dont-want-abortion-bans-poll-finds-even-in-states-where-its-already-outlawed/?sh=59d30b2c795c) abortion being legal, those plans have simmered down, with the Post [reporting](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/13/abortion-graham-republicans-nationwide-ban/) that it’s now unclear when or if the six-week bill will be introduced. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) introduced a bill Tuesday that would criminalize abortion after 15 weeks into a pregnancy, the first national ban on the procedure to be introduced after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Recent polling from the [Wall Street Journal](https://www.wsj.com/articles/support-for-legalized-abortion-grows-since-dobbs-ruling-wsj-poll-shows-11662210020) and Public Religion Research Institute [shows](https://www.prri.org/research/political-and-religious-activation-and-polarization-in-the-wake-of-the-roe-overturn/) Americans are more likely to accept a 15-week ban than more stringent restrictions on the procedure, but a narrow majority are still opposed to the measures. John Cornyn (Tex.) and Ron Johnson (Wis.) said Tuesday they believe abortion should be left up to the states. Whether Congress could pass a federal abortion ban has been a source of concern since the Whether there will be appetite among Graham’s GOP colleagues to take up the bill anyway, despite its long odds, remains to be seen: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has The vast majority of abortions take place before 15 weeks of pregnancy, but abortion rights advocates have argued the importance of keeping the procedure legal after that point for reasons like delayed access to care or health complications that emerge later in pregnancy. Graham’s bill has been widely opposed by Democratic lawmakers and abortion rights advocates, as well as the Biden Administration. [percentage](https://www.orlandosentinel.com/health/os-ne-health-florida-15-week-abortion-ban-patients-20220218-tvbszzptlffffi7fxwo7eguh7u-story.html) of abortions in the U.S.

On Tuesday, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham introduced a bill that would ban abortion nationally after 15 weeks, with exceptions for rape, ...

The alternate analysis of Graham's move is that he deeply believes abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy must be banned and that his side has to be on the record on it. But while Graham may well believe that, he is far too savvy to simply roll out this plan less than two months before an election without considering the political consequences of doing so. Wade this summer, ending the constitutional right to an abortion. Graham is hoping to give Republicans a positive talking point on the abortion issue -- something his side can point to as evidence that they are not the intolerant ogres that Democrats have, to date, effectively cast them as in the wake of the Supreme Court decision. And so, Graham is trying to give Republican candidates something to talk about that he believes threads the needle between keeping the GOP base, which is adamantly opposed to abortion in all forms, happy and not totally alienating the center of the electorate. suggests that while public opinion is more split on a 15-week ban compared to the court's overturning of Roe, which is broadly unpopular, a majority of Americans still opposes the limit Graham is proposing.

Weeks after claiming that states should decide, the senator from South Carolina introduced legislation that would restrict abortion on the federal level.

“Abortion isn’t going anywhere.” That, of course, was only half true at the time; abortion rights were indeed vanishing in the states that banned or heavily restricted the procedure. “If the Democrats are in charge, I don’t know if we’ll ever have a vote on our bill.” If signed into law, the even more extreme abortion bans passed by state legislatures throughout the country, including the ones already outlawing it entirely, would remain in place. “If we take back the House and the Senate, I can assure you we’ll have a vote on our bill,” he told reporters. [following](https://www.vanityfair.com/topic/lindsey-graham) [words](https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1556272575126413313?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1556272575126413313%7Ctwgr%5E9fd7855f8ee014d1d46cf877df2a7492625dcf1a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rollingstone.com%2Fpolitics%2Fpolitics-news%2Flindsey-graham-gay-marriage-1393891%2F) came out of Lindsey Graham’s mouth: “I’ve been consistent. “After [Democrats] introduced a bill to define who they are, I thought it’d be nice to introduce a bill to define who we are,” he said. First, because of the whole “I‘ve been consistent“ business, and second, because it would yet again set another historic record for Republican hypocrisy.