Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade earlier this year, it’s clear that the fight for reproductive freedom, abortion access, and bodily autonomy is far from over. Now, a new bill ups the ante: Senator Lindsey Graham’s new piece of legislation, introduced Tuesday, would ban abortion nationwide after 15 weeks, Axio reports.
The Trump ally’s bill doesn’t quite hit the extreme nature of the “heartbeat bill” his colleague, Iowa Senator Joni Erst, has proposed, though that doesn’t make the attack any less damaging.
For a party that consistently touts states’ rights, the unclear messaging is a bit eye-roll inducing. Looking back to June when Roe was overturned, GOP politicians readily preached that the power was now in the hands of individual states.
“The power to decide this profound moral question has officially returned to the states, where it will be debated and settled in the way it should be in our democratic society—by the people,” said Ken Buck, a Coloradan republican representative, in a news release at the time. Even Graham echoed a similar sentiment to CNN last month, stating “states should decide the issue of marriage and states should decide the issue of abortion.”
Clearly, shamelessly exerting force and control over people with uteruses has taken precedence in the weeks since.
And folks like Buck and Graham aren’t alone as they relish in their hypocrisy, as many republicans have expressed support for a national abortion ban.
In response to the news of Graham’s bill, Representative Pramila Jayapal chimes in on Twitter, “Overturning Roe was never about giving power back to states—it was about controlling our bodies and our personal autonomy. We cannot let this happen.”
White House Press Security Karine Jean-Pierre retorted to the bill in a statement, saying the bill is “wildly out of step with what Americans believe.” A figure shared by Pew Research in June found the a majority of U.S. adults, 61%, say abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
Jean-Pierre continues, “President Biden and Congressional Democrats are committed to restoring the protections of Roe v. Wade in the face of continued radical steps by elected Republicans to put personal health care decisions in the hands of politicians instead of women and their doctors, threatening women’s health and lives.”
