U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) made this statement Tuesday on protecting the unborn.
“After Dobbs, protection of the unborn has returned to elected officials at the state and federal level. As Justice Kavanaugh wrote in a concurring opinion to Dobbs, the legislative bodies are best able to decide such matters.
“When states like South Carolina, Florida, and Iowa agree on a certain level of protection for the unborn, through the legislative process, then I believe the process has worked as Dobbs intended. I support what my home state of South Carolina has done to protect the unborn. I applaud Governor McMaster and our state legislature for their hard work on this issue.
“States have the right to deal with the abortion issue up to a point, however the rights of the states to deal with this issue are not absolute. There comes a time when the issue moves from being a states’ rights issue to a human rights issue.
“Democratic Senators have used the legislative process and tried to pass federal legislation that creates a national standard virtually allowing abortion on demand up to the moment of birth. It is time for those who support the rights of the unborn to speak up in Washington. I have done so by offering legislation to protect unborn children who can feel pain at 15 weeks, with exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother.
“At a minimum, when a child is so well-developed that they can feel pain and suck their thumb, we should protect them at the national level. At 15 weeks gestation, an unborn child can suck their thumb and also feel pain. That is why 47 of 50 European nations limit abortion between 12 and 15 weeks.
“Today, states like Oregon, New Jersey, Vermont, and Colorado place virtually no limits on abortion at any stage. These state laws mirror renegade nations like China and North Korea which allow abortion on demand up to the moment of birth. With their extreme position in support of late-term abortions, these states demonstrate why we need a national minimum standard to protect the unborn.”
