US abortion bill galvanises Democrats and splits Republicans

It did not take long for a backlash to emerge against proposed legislation to ban most abortions after 15 weeks across the United States put forward by a Republican senator — both from Democrats and some in his own party.

South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham on Tuesday argued that his proposals would bring the United States into line with much of the rest of the world in terms of abortion and provide a platform around which Republican politicians could rally.

However, it has not worked out that way so far.

Graham’s abortion bill, which would allow exemptions in cases of rape and incest and a risk to the life of the mother, overshadowed, to a degree, what was a disappointing day for president Joe Biden on the economy. Inflation figures on Tuesday were higher than anticipated and led to the Dow Jones plunging 1,200 points.

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Republicans had hoped to turn the forthcoming mid-term elections essentially into a referendum on Biden’s handling of the economy.

Instead, since the landmark supreme court ruling in June overturning the federal constitutional right to a termination, the issue of abortion has galvanised Democrats and encouraged large numbers of women to register to vote.

Democrats have been seeking to concentrate the minds of voters on developments in several Republican-controlled states which have introduced severe restrictions on abortion.

Graham’s legislation has no chance of being passed by a US Congress which, at present, is controlled by Democrats.

However, the new bill has given the opportunity to Democrats to point to it as a warning as to what would likely happen if Republicans regained the majority after the elections in November. The Democrat message to voters is that Republicans will want to ban abortion everywhere, even in liberal states.

The reaction from the leadership of the Republican Party in the US senate to the proposal was cool.

Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell sought to distance himself from the proposed abortion legislation put forward by Graham, suggesting that most of his members would prefer that the issue of abortion “be dealt with at the state level”.

Indeed up a month ago, that also seemed to be Graham’s public position.

Senator John Cornyn of Texas told CNN on Tuesday that he preferred to “have each state handle those issues”. Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina told the network that he wanted to focus on inflation.

West Virginia republican senator Shelley Moore Capito said: “I don’t think there’s an appetite for a national platform here. But I don’t think there will be a rallying around that concept.”

Democrats, particularly those in potentially close contests in November, on the other hand seized on the Graham legislation to promote their own credentials on women’s rights and abortion.

The White House also weighed in to condemn Graham’s proposed legislation.

It said it would put in place “a national ban on abortion which would strip away women’s rights in all 50 states”.

The White House argued the Graham bill was “wildly out of step with what Americans believe”.