Graham was joined at a press conference at noon Tuesday by Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, along with other anti-abortion leaders. Representatives for Graham and the Susan B. Anthony group did not immediately return questions Tuesday morning. The name of his bill – which includes the non-medical phrase “late-term abortions” – drew sharp criticism from abortion rights activists. Used almost exclusively by anti-abortion activists, the phrase is generally taken to refer to abortions between or after the 21st and 24th week of pregnancy. “15 weeks is not ‘late term,’ especially given the significant access challenges across the country,” tweeted Christina Reynolds, vice president of communications for Emily’s List. While most people have abortions earlier in pregnancy, the 15-week and 20-week abortion bans disproportionately affect patients with fetal abnormalities, which are often detected at a 20-week anatomy scan, along with those who take longer to realize they are pregnant . These kinds of bans will also affect more people in a meta-Roe America’s abortion clinics are struggling to accommodate a flood of patients from states where abortion is now illegal. Democrats quickly responded to reports of Graham’s efforts with anger and vowed the measure would go nowhere. “I will block any effort in the Senate to advance a national abortion ban – period,” tweeted Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), who is in a difficult re-election bid. “We don’t need any more male politicians telling women what we can and can’t do with our bodies.” “I’ll never understand the Republican obsession with what goes on in your bedroom or your doctor’s office, but I know it doesn’t belong anywhere in government. Your right to privacy is fundamental,” Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.) tweeted. The timing of Graham’s announcement is curious, two months after most Republicans cheered the Supreme Court’s June decision to overturn Roe v. Wade arguing that abortion rights should be left to the states to decide. It will also come two months before the midterm elections, since abortion has already proven to be a galvanizing issue for some Democratic voters. While Republicans generally praised the government’s overthrow Roemany chose not to focus on the subject before midterms. Last month, Kansas voters overwhelmingly rejected a referendum that would have allowed state lawmakers to regulate abortion, the first time state voters have decided on such an amendment since Roe overturned. Last week, South Carolina Republicans failed in their bid for a near-total abortion ban in the state. Planned Parenthood announced last month that it plans to spend a record $50 million in an effort to elect abortion rights advocates across the country this November, relying on the belief that abortion will help turn out Democratic voters. Additionally, several red states already have stricter bans. “Enabling laws” restricting or banning abortion went into effect soon after Roe has been overturned in at least eight states, and several others are in various stages of legal limbo. Last month, Indiana passed a near-total abortion ban, the first to do so since Roe was knocked down. Before the Supreme Court was overturned Roe v. Wade In June, many Republican lawmakers and advocates had pushed for a strict nationwide abortion ban that would ban the procedure after heart activity is detected at about six weeks into pregnancy. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) had been planning behind the scenes to introduce the legislation. But months after the landmark abortion decision, those plans have been quietly scrapped. While that bill has been drafted, there is no timetable for Ernst or any other senator to introduce it, according to several anti-abortion advocates close to the situation. Instead, some leading anti-abortion advocates hope Republicans will rally around a 15-week ban, which has been condemned by many in the anti-abortion movement because it would allow the vast majority of abortions to go ahead. Dannenfelser, the president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said she expects Graham’s bill to be “universally accepted,” offering a path forward that many Republican senators can support. “I think the place to start is where Graham starts,” Dannenfelser said in an interview before the release of Graham’s account. “Graham is the momentum and it will increase when he imports [his bill].” Some Republicans aren’t so sure. After the Supreme Court’s decision, many have publicly stated that they believe abortion should be left up to the states. Even before the anti-abortion amendment was resoundingly defeated in his home state, Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) told the Washington Post that he doubted there was a future for any kind of national abortion ban. “I just don’t see the momentum at the federal level,” Marshall said in a July 25 interview. “I think the legislative priority should be in the states.” Republicans have been forced to reckon with a growing body of data suggesting abortion could be a deciding issue in the midterms, motivating Democrats and independent voters far more than widely expected. Candidates who support abortion rights have outperformed in recent special elections, while key battleground states have seen a surge in Democratic and independent women registering to vote. Some Republicans have been reluctant to discuss the issue of a national abortion ban on the campaign trail. In Arizona, Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters removed any mention of his support for a “federal personhood law” from his website, legislation that would likely ban post-conception abortions nationwide. Masters’ website now says it would support a ban on third-trimester abortions, around 27 weeks of pregnancy, a much more popular position. Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America applauded the change in a press release, saying Masters “rightly focused his position on what can be accomplished at the federal level.” Abortion rights groups have seized on the looming threat of a national abortion ban, hoping to mobilize voters around the issue across the country, including those in states where abortion rights are protected. “For anyone in a state where abortion is not yet restricted or banned, we especially want to say to those voters, ‘This is everyone’s issue. It could come to your state if they vote against efforts to protect abortion,” said Jacqueline Ayers, senior vice president at Planned Parenthood Action Fund. In both the House and Senate, Republicans are debating other types of abortion legislation that may be easier to pass than a national ban. Rep. Michelle Fischbach (R-Minn.), co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, said in an interview that members are debating first-of-its-kind legislation that would provide federal funding to crisis pregnancy centers, anti-abortion organizations that try to prevent women from having abortions and sometimes offer diapers and other aids to new mothers. Rachel Roubein and Marianna Sotomayor contributed to this report.
