Graham’s abortion ban stuns Senate GOP
Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), who chairs Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, said “it’s great that [Republicans are] showing the American people that they’re really focused on taking away a fundamental right.” Across the Capitol, however, the House GOP’s campaign chief insisted that abortion would not be the dominant issue in November.
Read more at Politico
Republican Graham introduces bill that would restrict abortions nationwide
Graham said the bill will help his party in the midterms, and said on Fox News that it represents a viable “alternative to the very radical position by Democratic senators.”
Meanwhile, Democrats said Graham’s move belies the GOP argument that the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade would return power to the states on the procedure. Instead, they said Republicans are eager to pass a national law outlawing abortion.
Read more at Politico
Graham introduces nationwide 15-week abortion ban legislation
But the bill would retain state laws that are more restrictive while replacing laws in blue states that protect abortion.
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The legislation includes exceptions for incest and rape and to save the life of the mother if she is in danger from a physical condition. It also includes a potential five-year jail sentence for any provider who violates the ban.
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“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,” Graham said.
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“We should have a law at the federal level,” Graham said during a briefing. “If we take the House and Senate, I can assure you we’ll have a vote.”
Read more at The Hill
A 15-Week Gestational Ban Is In No Way A ‘Late-Term’ Abortion Ban
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) plans to unveil a new national abortion ban Tuesday afternoon — the so-called “Protecting Pain-Capable Unborn Children from Late-Term Abortions Act.”
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“Of course, this is not actually a ‘late-term’ abortion ban, so that term is a misnomer,’” Jessie Hill, associate dean and professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, told TPM. “Pregnancy lasts about 40 weeks; 15 weeks is a point early in the second trimester.”
Read more at Talking Points Memo
White House blasts Graham abortion bill as ‘wildly out of step’
“This bill is wildly out of step with what Americans believe,” she said. “The President and Vice President are fighting for progress, while Republicans are fighting to take us back.”
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She called Graham’s bill “an extreme piece of legislation” while briefing reporters later on Tuesday.
“The first thing is the senator’s proposal would keep in place the most extreme, the most extreme state level abortion bans that ban all abortions and have no exemptions for health,” she said.
Read more at The Hill
In ‘Despicable Show of Cruelty’, Graham Dismisses Woman’s Story of Nonviable Pregnancy
…. a woman asked what he would say to someone “who found out that their son had an anomaly that would make him incompatible with life at 16 weeks” of pregnancy.
“I had regular appointments, I did everything right,” said the woman. “And at 16 weeks we found out that our son would likely not live. When he was born, he lived for eight days. He bled from every orifice of his body, but we were allowed to make that choice for him. You would be robbing that choice from those women. What do you say to someone like me?”
Looking away from the woman, Graham replied that there “will be exceptions for life of the mother and rape and incest,” and talked over her when she pointed out that his proposal does not include exceptions in the case of a fetus which has serious or life-threatening health issues.
Read more at Common Dreams
‘Republicans Keep Showing Us Who They Are’: Graham Introduces Federal Abortion Ban
“Republicans keep showing us who they are and what the future will be if they take the majority this fall,” tweeted the progressive advocacy group Indivisible. “Don’t count on polls to save us—nothing is certain until we vote.”
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“Let’s be clear about what a bill like this would do—it could put a ban on abortion in place in every state in our country, including blue states that have laws protecting abortion rights and access on the books,” Mini Timmaraju, the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. “This is about who gets to decide what’s right for our lives and our families. Should it be a person who is pregnant? Or Lindsey Graham and MAGA Republicans?”
Read more at Common Dreams