During a press conference at Capitol Hill on Tuesday, South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham introduced a bill that would ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy nationwide.
The bill, titled the Protecting Pain-Capable Unborn Children from Late-Term Abortions Act, is the first pro-life legislation to be introduced at the federal level since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June.
At the time, Democratic lawmakers responded to the decision by attempting to pass the Women's Health Protection Act, which would codify abortion into federal law and prevent states from passing abortion restrictions.
Graham, who stood alongside pro-life leaders at Tuesday's press conference, explained that the pro-life legislation was made in response to the Women's Health Protection Act, which previously passed the House but failed in the Senate.
According to The Christian Post, Graham noted that passing the Protecting Pain-Capable Unborn Children from Late-Term Abortions Act would put the U.S. in line with dozens of other countries with similar abortion restrictions.
"If we adopted … our bill, we would be in the mainstream of most everybody else in the world. I think there are 47 of the 50 European countries [that] have a ban on abortion from 12 to 15 weeks," the Republican senator said.
One graphic displayed at the press conference shows that France, Denmark and Norway have banned abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy, while Belgium, Germany and Spain have banned the procedure after 14 weeks. Conversely, another graphic stressed that the Democrats' Women's Health Protection Act "places America in the company of only seven other countries who allow abortion on demand, including North Korea and China."
"Should we look like Iran and North Korea when it comes to national abortion policy or maybe France, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Denmark and Norway?" Graham asked. "If you vote with us, then we'll look more like these countries. If you vote with the Democrats, we'll look more like Syria and North Korea and Iran."
"I want to be a nation as a whole that recognizes at 15 weeks, the baby feels pain, that to save the baby's life, you have to provide anesthesia because you don't want to hurt the baby in the process of saving its life, and we are not a better nation by just dismembering that child," he continued.
Penny Nance, President of Concerned Women For America, also spoke at the press conference, where she noted that a 15-week-old baby can feel pain.
"At 15 weeks, a little baby girl can feel pain. She can move her fully formed fingers and her toes. She can suck her thumb, and she has a fully developed heart that is pumping 26 quarts of blood per day. This is a human life that deserves our protection," Nance said.
Carol Tobias, president of the pro-life group National Right to Life, warned that if the Women's Health Protection Act had passed, then "reasonable limits such as parental consent or women's right to know laws, which were possible under Roe v. Wade, would not be allowed under the WHPA."
Graham also cited a Fox News poll which found that 54 percent of Americans support banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, except in cases of medical emergencies. Forty-one percent oppose the ban.
Graham says the upcoming mid-term elections will determine the fate of the pro-life legislation.
"If we take back the House and the Senate, I can assure you we'll have a vote on our bill," he said. "If the Democrats are in charge, I don't know if we'll ever vote on our bill."
The bill is unlikely to be passed as a vote in either chamber of Congress would be rejected, especially if Democrats remain in power. Even if it passes both chambers of Congress, President Joe Biden would likely veto the legislation.
Even so, Graham hoped that further discussions about the bill would ultimately see it become law in the future.
"If we stay on this and keep talking about it, maybe less than a decade from now, this will be law," he said.
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Pool
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
