Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Sen. Graham Introduces Bill To Ban Abortion Nationwide After 15 Weeks
AP: GOP's Graham Unveils Nationwide Abortion Ban After 15 Weeks
Upending the political debate, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham introduced a nationwide abortion ban Tuesday, sending shockwaves through both parties and igniting fresh debate on a fraught issue weeks before the midterm elections that will determine control of Congress. Graham’s own Republican Party leaders did not immediately embrace his abortion ban bill, which would prohibit the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy with rare exceptions, and has almost no chance of becoming law in the Democratic-held Congress. Democrats torched it as an alarming signal of where “MAGA” Republicans are headed if they win control of the House and Senate in November. (Mascaro, 9/14)
Politico: Graham's Abortion Ban Stuns Senate GOP
Lindsey Graham’s anti-abortion legislation once unified the Republican Party. The 15-week abortion ban he pitched Tuesday had the exact opposite effect. The South Carolina senator chose a uniquely tense moment to unveil his party’s first bill limiting abortion access since this summer’s watershed reversal of Roe v. Wade. It was designed as a nod to anti-abortion activists who have never felt more emboldened. Yet Graham’s bill also attempted to skate past a Republican Party that’s divided over whether Congress should even be legislating on abortion after the Supreme Court struck down a nationwide right to terminate pregnancies. (Everett, Levine and Ferris, 9/13)
ABC News: Graham's Proposed Near-Total National Abortion Ban Quickly Meets GOP Resistance
Even if the GOP were to regain control of the Senate in November, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the Senate's second-ranking Republican, said he didn't know if Republicans would proceed with a floor vote on Graham's measure. Likewise, just a few of the GOP Senate candidates in competitive races immediately voiced support for the measure, including Arizona's Blake Masters and Georgia's Herschel Walker. Joe O'Dea, a moderate Republican running to unseat Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet in Colorado, told the Denver Post he did not back Graham's bill and called for "balance on the abortion issue." (Ferris, 9/13)
The Hill: McConnell Throws Shade On Graham’s Proposed National Abortion Ban
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday made clear that Senate Republicans are not eager to debate Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) proposal to ban abortions nationwide after 15 weeks of pregnancy, telling reporters that most GOP senators want to leave the issue to states. McConnell also said Graham’s proposal is the South Carolina senator’s own initiative and not something being pushed at the leadership level. (Bolton, 9/13)
Graham's announcement likely will rock the midterm elections —
The New York Times: Republicans Struggle To Unite Party Around National Abortion Restrictions
For weeks, anti-abortion activists and their Republican allies have been quietly seeking to rally their party around a single platform on abortion, hoping to settle divisions and blunt political damage from an issue with growing potency in the midterm elections. But when Senator Lindsey Graham came ahead on Tuesday with a proposed 15-week national abortion ban intended to unite his party, the result was only more division. (Lerer and Dias, 9/13)
Newsweek: Lindsey Graham Gambles Republicans' Midterm Victory On 15-Week Abortion Ban
Senator Lindsey Graham's bill to ban abortion federally after 15 weeks could further put Republican midterm victories at risk as the party faces political backlash over the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade. ... Republicans once hoped President Joe Biden's lagging approval numbers would propel them to a strong midterm victory, but recent polling indicates their hardline stance on abortion has seen their leads evaporate. Graham's 15-week abortion ban bill could put Republican candidates in competitive races in a tight spot as they try to strike a balance between motivating their conservative base while not alienating moderate, independent voters on abortion. (Stanton, 9/13)
The Washington Post: Lindsey Graham’s Abortion-Ban Proposal Is Not Helping His Party
In announcing the proposal, Graham tied it explicitly to the midterm elections. “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 have a vote on our bill.” (Phillip Bump, 9/13)
Also —
The Hill: White House Blasts Graham Abortion Bill As ‘Wildly Out Of Step’
The White House on Tuesday described a new bill that would impose a nationwide ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy as “wildly out of step” with the country, pushing back hard on the legislation introduced by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that the ban “would strip away women’s rights in all 50 states.” (Gangitano, 9/13)
The New York Times: How A Nationwide Abortion Ban After 15 Weeks Would Compare To State Laws
A proposal to ban abortion nationwide after 15 weeks of pregnancy would stop short of some states’ limits on the procedure but would upend the longtime standard in most others. Such a ban would come early in the second trimester, before common screenings for certain health conditions and several weeks before a fetus is considered viable. (Lutz and McCann, 9/13)
Democrats urge President Biden to protect reproductive health data —
The 19th: Democratic Senators Urge Biden Admin To Use HIPAA To Protect Abortion Rights
Thirty Democratic senators led by Washington’s Patty Murray are calling on the Biden administration to use health care privacy laws to protect patients’ reproductive health information, specifically when it comes to abortion. (Luthra, 9/13)
