When former President Donald Trump announced Monday that abortion issues should be left up to the states to decide, one ally spoke out against it.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Trump’s decision to back away from endorsing a national 15-week abortion ban “runs contrary to an American consensus that would limit late-term abortions,” per The Hill.
“I respectfully disagree with President Trump’s statement that abortion is a states’ rights issue,” he said in a statement.
Trump previously supported a 15-week or 16-week national abortion ban even though top Republicans warned it would put the issue of abortion rights at the forefront of the 2024 campaign and hurt their chances of taking back the White House and the Senate majority, according to a outlet.
However, Graham said that “the pro-life movement has always been about the wellbeing of the unborn child — not geography.”
“The science is clear — a child at 15 weeks is well-developed and capable of feeling pain,” he said. “I will continue to advocate that there should be a national minimum standard limiting abortion at fifteen weeks because the child is capable of feeling pain, with exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother.”
Graham told The Hill earlier he would reintroduce his legislation to implement a nationwide 15-week abortion ban before the general election. But on Monday he said he may focus on legislation to mandate the use of anesthesia on fetuses aborted after 15 weeks.
“The least we can do is to provide anesthesia to an unborn child facing an abortion at fifteen weeks because they can feel pain. Therefore, I will be introducing new legislation requiring abortion providers to administer anesthesia to an unborn child at fifteen weeks because they are capable of feeling pain,” he said in his statement.
“It is common medical practice to administer anesthesia to operate on an unborn child at 15 weeks to save their life,” Graham noted.
Trump said Monday that the decision is up to the individual states regarding abortion.
“My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint,” Trump said in a video posted to Truth Social. “The states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land. In this case, the law of the state.
“Many states will be different. Many will have a different number of weeks or some will have more conservative than others and that’s what they will be,” he said. “At the end of the day, this is all about the will of the people. You must follow your heart, or in many cases your religion or your faith.”
