In Graham’s proposal, Democrats see another opportunity to capitalize on an issue that appears to bolster their chances of carrying at least one chamber of Congress.

The Fed faces a growing split over what to do next The South Carolina Republican introduced the legislation less than three months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, overturning decades of federal abortion protections — and placing abortion as a top midterm issue. Graham’s announcement on Tuesday sparked a new wave of abortion-related headlines as Democrats lined up to condemn the bill, which would drastically limit access to the procedure in blue states. It drew attention away from the day’s other major headline, a worse-than-expected inflation report that sent stocks tumbling and was seen as a blow to the Biden administration’s economic recovery claims. Graham’s approach contrasts with the strategy of some Republicans, including those in high-profile races, following the Supreme Court’s abortion decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Many in the GOP have argued that states, not the federal government, should legislate on abortion. In Pennsylvania, one of the few battleground states that will determine which party wins the Senate, the new bill prompted Republican Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz to say he would prevent the federal government from interfering with abortion rules at the state level if elected. But Herschel Walker, the Republican running for Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock in another key race, said he would support Graham’s legislation. In both states, Democratic candidates used the issue to bash their GOP rivals. “Oz has to tell us — yes or no, would you support this bill?” Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the Democratic candidate for the state Senate, said in a statement Thursday morning. “I’ll go first: I’m a HELL NO.” Graham’s move confused even some Republican political pundits. Some media outlets treated it as an unforced error at a pivotal time when the race for the House and Senate appears to have tightened. “I don’t know why he did it,” said Georgia-based GOP strategist Jay Williams. He suggested the Republican midterms should focus primarily on the economy, where President Joe Biden has drawn low approval ratings. “If you win the game, you don’t change strategies,” Williams said. “If we’re talking about anything else, I think it’s a bad idea.” Seth Weathers, a former Trump campaign aide in Georgia and a political strategist, said he’s “a little bit scared that the way it’s going to be sold to the public could hurt Republicans in the midterms.” Julianne Thompson, a political strategist and self-described pro-life Republican, said the economy “is the winning issue for Republicans right now and the issue they need to focus on.” National GOP groups have not endorsed Graham this week. The Facebook and Twitter pages for the National Republican Congressional Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the Republican National Committee have not mentioned or promoted Graham’s bill since it was announced. None of those groups’ Facebook pages have run ads related to the bill, according to the Meta Ad Library. An RNC-run Twitter account tweeted about abortion without mentioning Graham on Wednesday, when it blamed a pair of Democrats, Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams and House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries. of New York, that they refused to recognize any limits to the process. The NRSC on Wednesday did the same, tweeting a critique of the abortion stance of Democratic Rep. Val Demings, who is challenging GOP Sen. Marco Rubio for his Florida seat. Graham sought to frame his legislation in response to Democratic proposals to codify abortion protections at the federal level. One such bill, introduced in May in response to a draft of the court’s Roe decision, failed in the Senate. “They chose a bill that would not put us in the mainstream of the world, but put us in a group of seven nations that allow abortion on demand almost up to the point of birth,” Graham said at a news conference Tuesday. Graham said his bill, which bans the procedure at 15 weeks of pregnancy and includes exceptions for rape, incest and to save the mother’s life, would set America’s abortion policy at a level that is “fairly consistent with the rest of the world. “ “And that’s where America should be,” the senator said. The plan would leave tougher state abortion laws in place. Rep. Chris Smith, RN.J., introduced a companion bill for the House. While the title of Graham’s bill suggests it would only ban “late-term” abortions, it would limit the procedure nationwide after less than four months of pregnancy, a threshold that falls in the second trimester. Abortions are usually considered “late” at 21 weeks of pregnancy or later, according to the nonprofit health policy KFF. But the organization notes that this phrase is not an official medical term and that abortions at this stage are rarely sought and difficult to obtain. Graham’s bill has virtually no chance of passing the current Congress, where Democrats hold slim majorities in the House and Senate. Republicans hope to take both chambers in the midterms, when the incumbent’s party has historically underperformed. But some forecasters now favor Democrats retaining control of the Senate, a shift that has been attributed in part to the high court’s decision in Dobbs. Republicans are favored to take the House, though the odds have shifted slightly toward Democrats since that decision was made in late June. Public opinion of the high court sank after Dobbs, which overturned Roe on a 5-4 vote with a majority that included three justices nominated by former President Donald Trump. Abortion rights, meanwhile, have become a top issue among voters. A Fox News poll taken in September and released Wednesday showed 57 percent of voters support legal abortion in all or most cases, a 13-point jump from May. The same survey showed that voter opposition to the Dobbs decision has grown only in the months since it was released, as respondents’ disapproval outweighed approval by nearly a 2-to-1 margin. And the survey found that among voters who view abortion as a primary concern, 56% would support Democrats in their House district, compared to 27% who would go Republican. Some Republicans, including GOP candidates in key Senate races, have backed Graham’s new proposal. “I’ve always been pro-life,” Rubio said when asked why he signed the bill. He pressed reporters to ask Democrats what, if any, restrictions on abortion they would support. Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, said he supported the bill. He told CNN that he’s changing the narrative that Republicans support a total abortion ban “and giving the candidates a position to be for something that reflects their views and doesn’t fit the Democrats’ narrative.” Pennsylvania-based Republican political strategist Christopher Nicholas echoed that sentiment, telling CNBC that Graham’s bill marked “the first strategic response on our part on this issue since the Dobbs decision.” “He could force the press to take it [Democrats] to recognize that the only acceptable abortion position on their part is abortion on demand,” Nicholas said. But other top Republicans either refused to support Graham’s bill or expressed the belief that individual states should enact their own abortion laws. “I think most of my caucus members would prefer that this be handled at the state level,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican who would set the GOP’s abortion agenda if the party wins, told reporters Senate control in November. Tuesday when asked about Graham’s bill. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, the NRSC chairman, did not voice his support for the bill during an interview Wednesday with Fox News. “Well, if you go around the country, what people are focused on is the economy, their children’s education, public safety,” Scott said when asked about the legislation. “On abortion, the Democrats are clearly focused on abortion,” he added. Asked to comment on the backlash to the bill, Graham spokesman Kevin Bishop noted that Rubio “has been on board.” Republicans have long opposed abortion, and many red states imposed blanket bans on the procedure soon after Roe’s ouster. But as polls show a majority of Americans disapprove of the court’s decision — and as women reportedly outnumber men in voter registration in key swing states — many in the GOP have struggled to confront Democrats, who have made abortion a major issue. part of their message. “While abortion is not going to determine the midterms, it has been an issue that Democrats have been raising funds for and using to get more women registered to vote,” said Thompson, the Republican strategist. “I’m very aware that my party needs better messaging on this issue,” along with more female leaders speaking out on abortion and related issues, she said. The RNC earlier this week advised the campaigns to seek “common ground” on exemptions to the abortion ban and press Democrats for their own views, the Washington Post reported Wednesday. The national party also encouraged candidates to focus on issues such as crime and the economy, the Post reported. “The polls must be teaching them something, because I’m not hearing about abortion today,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said on the House floor Wednesday. “What is their position now? America wants to know.” Some Republican candidates who have previously touted hardline positions on abortion during the GOP…