A conservative retired Army brigadier general, Bolduc insisted during the Republican primary that he “will always default to a system that protects lives from beginning to end.” But South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham’s decision to introduce legislation this week that would create a national abortion ban raised the prospect that a campaign talking point could become a reality. With his attention now turning to the November general election in a moderate state that President Joe Biden supported by more than 7 percentage points, Bolduc quickly distanced himself from Graham’s measure. “It doesn’t make sense,” he told Fox News, adding that abortion laws are best left to individual states. “Women on both sides of the issue will have a better voice at the state level.” With the midterm elections less than two months away, Bolduc’s pivot is a sign of the challenge dividing Republicans in some of the most competitive states as they pivot on abortion policy. The party was already facing a potential backlash from voters upset by a June Supreme Court ruling invalidating a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion. But Graham’s legislation risked raising headwinds, undermining the GOP’s argument this summer that the future of abortion rights in the US would be decided by individual states. Graham’s bill would ban abortions nationwide after 15 weeks of pregnancy, except in cases of rape, incest or danger to the mother’s physical health. Congressional Republicans have introduced similar legislation in the past, and like those efforts, this measure is unlikely to become law. But Democrats were quick to point to the measure to warn that handing control of Congress to Republicans could lead to a broader erosion of rights. “In the world’s greatest democracy, Don Bolduc will make women second-class citizens,” Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, one of the Senate’s most vulnerable Democrats, said at a hastily arranged news conference Wednesday. “National Republicans, from Mike Pence to the leaders of the Senate and House, have waited years for the chance to ban abortion nationwide. If Don Buldoc is in the Senate, they would have a credible vote to do just that.” The legislation exposed deep frustration among Republican candidates and strategists who have not found an answer on abortion policy since the Supreme Court decision. There was concern that the measure diverted attention from Biden’s vulnerabilities, including persistent inflation. “It’s probably the right bill at the wrong time,” said veteran Republican strategist Chris Wilson. Graham’s plan, he said, “gives Democrats an opportunity to talk more about abortion. And right now Republicans are losing when they talk about abortion.” Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk derided Graham’s proposal as “election meddling”. “I would like a total abortion ban – 15 weeks is not enough,” Kirk said. “But I’m not dumb either. 25 days after ballots close, Democrats applaud, thank you Lindsey Graham.” Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who is one seat shy of majority control, has largely refused to embrace Graham’s legislation. “I think every Republican senator who’s in these contentious races this year has an answer for how they feel about it,” McConnell said Tuesday. He said most GOP senators prefer the issue be handled at the state rather than federal level. “So I leave it to our candidates who are competent enough to handle this issue to determine for themselves what their answer is.” Abortion would be a dominant issue this fall whether or not Graham rolled out a national abortion ban. A majority of Americans say Congress should pass a law guaranteeing access to legal abortion nationwide, according to a July AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll that found more than half said they felt at least somewhat “sad” or “angry” about the Supreme Court Decision. Democrats have poured tens of millions of dollars into television ads focusing on abortion rights. Women have registered to vote in greater numbers than men across the country. And many states that haven’t already outlawed abortion are pushing for new restrictions. The Supreme Court’s Republican-appointed majority overturned Roe in late June, prompting abortion bans in at least 13 states, many of which do not provide exemptions for rape, incest and the mother’s health. In Indiana, a new Republican-backed abortion ban takes effect Thursday. The West Virginia Legislature approved a sweeping abortion ban with few exceptions on Tuesday. Former Vice President Mike Pence, speaking Wednesday at Liberty University’s Convocation, celebrated the developments. “We have only reached the end of the beginning and the battle for life continues,” said Pence, who is considering a 2024 presidential run. “We must not rest and we must not back down until we restore the sanctity of life in center of American law in every state of the nation.” Meanwhile, Republican candidates for the swing state Senate have offered inconsistent and conflicting messages. In Arizona, Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters described abortion as “demonic” during his GOP primary, calling for a federal personhood law that would give fetuses the same rights as post-mortems. their birth. More recently he has toned down his rhetoric, focusing on limiting late-term abortions while allowing states to impose tighter limits. After winning the Republican nomination, Masters deleted references to his support for a personhood law from his campaign website and withdrew language describing himself as “100% pro-life.” He says he supports an Arizona law banning abortions after 15 weeks, which he called a “reasonable solution.” “Of course, I support Lindsey Graham’s 15-week bill and hope it passes,” Masters said this week. “If not, I propose and will introduce a standalone bill for the third quarter. Surely we can all agree that in America, we should not tolerate late-term abortions like China and North Korea do.” In another battleground state, Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker released a statement supporting Graham’s proposal, having already said during the GOP primary that he would support abortion bans with no exceptions. “I’m a proud pro-life Christian and I will always stand up for our unborn children,” Walker said of Graham’s proposal this week. “I think the issue should be decided at the state level, but I WOULD support this policy.” It was quite the opposite in Colorado, where Republican Senate candidate Joe O’Dea said that “the Republican ban is as reckless and tone-deaf as is the hostility of Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer to consider any compromise on the delayed abortion, parental notification or conscience protection for religious hospitals. O’Dea said Congress should pass a bill that “protects a woman’s right to choose early in pregnancy” and “reasonable limits on non-medically necessary late-term abortions.” In Nevada, Republican candidate Adam Laxalt said he would oppose a national ban, but his campaign declined to offer a specific position on Graham’s proposal when asked. A similar thing happened in Pennsylvania, where Republican Senate candidate Mehmet Oz suggested he would oppose a federal ban, but stopped short of saying so. “As a senator, he would like to make sure that the federal government does not get involved in interfering with state decisions on the issue,” Oz spokeswoman Brittany Yannick said. And in Wisconsin, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, who faces a tough re-election bid, has previously co-sponsored six national proposals to ban 20-week abortions. But after the Supreme Court overturned Roe, Johnson said he stood by the decision and left the abortion decision up to the states. The Republican senator, typically a Graham ally, appeared to stick with that position Tuesday, not taking a firm position on Graham’s bill. He told CNN that abortion should be decided by “we the people” in the 50 states.
People reported from New York. AP writers Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina. JJ Cooper in Phoenix. Jill Colvin in New York. Bill Barrow in Atlanta. and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed to this report.
This story has been corrected to show that many of the bans in at least 13 states do not provide exemptions for rape, incest and the health of the mother, not the life of the mother.
