South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham is among the shrinking group of anti-abortion GOP legislators who in the matter of abortion restrictions makes exceptions “like always,” as he says, for “cases of rape, incest, and life of the mother.”
My legislation is a good place to start. Like always, it includes exceptions for cases of rape, incest, and life of the mother.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) April 21, 2023
The Republican Party must be the party which values, cherishes, and protects life.
That position is increasingly scarce among Republicans who, in many states, have taken the abolition of Roe v. Wade as a invitation to place de facto bans on abortion by shrinking the amount of time after conception that the procedure is legal.
Graham aims to shock and trigger with his most recent tweet on the issue, forwarding a Politico article and commenting: “Senate Democrats have introduced and voted in support of legislation that would allow taxpayer-funded abortion, on demand, up to the moment of birth.”
Senate Democrats have introduced and voted in support of legislation that would allow taxpayer-funded abortion, on demand, up to the moment of birth.https://t.co/CiGGundWmS
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) April 21, 2023
Graham’s “taxpayer-funded abortion, on demand, up to the moment of birth” language is filled with anti-abortion, hard-right MAGA triggers — from the taxpayer burden to the presumed entitlement (“on demand”) to the “moment of birth.”
[Note: In his built-to-shock commentary, there’s an unacknowledged contradiction of which Graham is well aware: Any “at the moment of birth” procedure can only be performed to save the mother’s life, something Graham says specifically he supports.]
As one commenter, calling out Graham’s incendiary rhetoric, writes: “What in the Sam Hill is an ‘abortion at the moment of birth’?? Have you ever even met a real woman? Lord give me strength.”
But Graham’s tweeted commentary isn’t meant to be wholly truthful — it’s meant to outrage and galvanize support for Graham’s post-Roe legislation that seeks to ban abortions nationwide after 15 weeks, while, as Politico reports, “allowing states with stricter bans to supersede the national policy.”
Even among those who largely agree with him, Graham finds that the broader public is frustrated with the polarized battle between political extremes on the abortion issue, a polarization that doesn’t reflect the will of the majority of Americans as reflected in commentary and in nationwide polls.
One commenter on Graham’s post writes: “It’s imperative that republicans provide an alternative to this extreme position, but all they propose is extremes in the other direction? These heartbeat bills are ridiculous & cruel. Especially with no exceptions. Most Americans fall in the middle. Politicians MUST reflect that.”
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