Lindsey Graham’s national abortion ban bill makes the midterm stakes very clear
VoxNov 18, 2022
The Facts
On Tues., US Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) unveiled a bill that would criminalize abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, in what is the first national ban on the procedure to be introduced since SCOTUS overturned Roe v. Wade.
Graham’s bill includes exceptions in cases of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is in danger. While doctors who violate the ban would face up to five years in prison, women wouldn't be prosecuted.
The Spin
Democratic narrative
Graham is calling his bill the Protecting Pain-Capable Unborn Children from Late-Term Abortions Act, which — aside from being a jawbreaking name — is widely inaccurate on two fronts: Virtually all medical associations have concluded that fetuses don't feel pain until 24 weeks, and "late-term" is a political phrase used to manipulate, not a scientific one. Americans need only look at what Republican states have done recently to see Graham's true motives.
Republican narrative
Recent polls have indicated that most Americans support common-sense restrictions on abortions, and Graham’s bill is in step with this. Something has to be done to stop radical bills like the Democrats’ Women’s Health Protection Act, which would legalize the procedure nationwide and handcuff states from exercising their constitutional right to limit abortion.