South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham stunned fellow GOP members when he proposed a 15-week abortion ban on Tuesday, promising a vote to bar the procedure if the Republican Party takes back the majority of the House and Senate.
The Republican chose a uniquely tense moment on Tuesday to pitch his proposal, which is his party's first bill limiting abortion access since this summer's watershed reversal of Roe v. Wade. It was designed as a show of support for anti-abortion activists who have never felt more emboldened.
Lindsey Graham's Proposed Anti-Abortion Bill
However, Graham's bill also attempted to skate past a Republican Party that has become divided over whether or not Congress should even be legislating on abortion rights after the Supreme Court struck down a nationwide right to terminate pregnancies.
Furthermore, some fellow Republican lawmakers said that they were highly dumfounded at Graham's decision to introduce a new abortion ban which was more conservative than his previous proposals at a precarious moment for the party.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia said, "I don't think there's an appetite for a national platform here. My state, today, is working on this. I'm not sure what he's thinking here. But I don't think there will be a rallying around that concept," as per Politico.
The South Carolina senator previously pitched ideas for a 20-week abortion ban that attracted the support of many Republicans and even some among the Democratic Party. Graham's latest proposal would leave in place state laws that are far more restrictive while also imposing new limits in blue states that currently have none.
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Graham's proposal came less than 60 days before the midterm elections, causing concern among the GOP who is watching its once-dominant polling advantage shrink since the reversal of Roe v. Wade.
According to CBS News, the proposed bill is called the Protecting Pain-Capable Unborn Children from Late-Term Abortions Act. It prohibits doctors from performing abortions five weeks earlier in pregnancy. It also includes exceptions for abortions that are necessary to save the life of the mother or when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.
Ban on Abortion
Graham spoke alongside anti-abortion rights advocates to unveil the legislation on Capitol Hill, saying that it will bring the United States in line with most European nations that impose limits on abortion.
He said, "Abortion is not banned in America. It's left up to the elected officials in America to define the issue. States have the ability to do it at the state level, and we have the ability in Washington to speak on this issue if we choose. I have chosen to speak. I have chosen to craft legislation that I think is eminently reasonable in the eyes of the world and I hope the American people."
The South Carolina official added that he was looking forward to the debate regarding the legislation and noted that he was looking forward to the vote. He assured his supporters that if Republicans win back the House and Senate, the bill will receive the votes that it needs, Yahoo News reported.
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