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Tuesday, December 3, 2024

Kelly opposes 15-week ban on abortion bill, 'will always fight for women to have the right'

Mark kelly  47203140271

Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly | Gage Skidmore/Wikipedia Commons

Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly | Gage Skidmore/Wikipedia Commons

Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) newest bill on abortion is a proposal that will effectively ban abortions beyond the 15-week period of pregnancy, excluding cases of rape, incest or threatening the life of the mother. 

A Trafalgar poll found that a majority of voters support a 15-week ban on abortion. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and a Harvard Harris poll found similar results when polling voters. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) is opposed to 15-week bans and has supported more abortion rights especially since the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Graham’s bill prohibits doctors from performing abortions after 15 weeks, but allows states with more restrictive abortion laws to remain. According to the press release, it “puts the United States in line with other modern societies – 47 out of 50 European nations limit elective abortion prior to 15 weeks gestation.”

“We will introduce legislation, along with a lot of my colleagues, to basically get America in a position at the federal level, I think that is fairly consistent with the rest of the world…that would say after 15 weeks, no abortion on demand except in cases of rape, incest, to save the life of the mother and that should be where America’s at,” Graham said in a video posted by Forbes Breaking News.

According to AZ Central, Arielle Devorah from Kelly’s campaign said, “Sen. Kelly will never support a national abortion ban and will always fight for women to have the right to make their own decisions about having an abortion.” Kelly’s campaign criticized his opponent in the upcoming Senate race, Blake Masters, for supporting the bill.

The Trafalgar Group recently conducted a Federal Abortion Law Nationwide Survey from Sept. 16-17. There were 1,077 respondents who are “likely general election voters,” according to the Trafalgar Group report. The margin of error was 2.9% with a confidence level of 95%. The survey asked respondents to choose between two bills: The first would prevent abortions after 15 weeks (similar to Graham’s bill) except in cases of rape, incest and the mother’s health and the second would give women the right to abortion at any point during pregnancy. The 15-week ban on abortion would still allow individual states to incur further restrictions whereas the second option would prevent individual states from more restrictions. Almost 60% of respondents chose option 1, and 40.9% chose option 2.

Trafalgar’s polling methodology includes “live callers, integrated voice response, text messages, emails and two other proprietary digital methods we don’t share publicly” noted on the Trafalgar website.

The WSJ reports more Americans support a 15-week abortion ban than oppose it. According to a WSJ analysis from April that surveyed 1,500 voters, 48% of voters support a 15-week ban on abortion, except in cases of the mother’s health, and 43% oppose it. Although this analysis was completed before Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court, state legislators in Arizona and Florida were already pushing for a 15-week ban within their state. The Journal cites a Center for Disease Control (CDC) poll that found 95% of abortions in 2019 took place during or up to 15 weeks. 

A Harris poll, conducted by Harvard’s Center for Political Studies (CAPS), asked 1,308 voters their thoughts on abortion from June 28-29, right after Roe was overturned. The poll found “a majority of voters expect a rollback of abortion rights at the state level." Answering “Do you think your state should allow abortion?” 10% said yes to up to 9 months, 18% said yes to up to 23 weeks, 23% said yes to up to 15 weeks, 12% said yes to up to 6 weeks, while 37% said yes but only in cases of rape and incest. 

The Harris Poll also found 60% of Democratic voters would support a 15-week ban, while 40% would support abortion at 23 weeks and longer. Eighty-four percent of Republican voters support a 15-week ban. Among female participants, 75% would support a 15-week ban, while 25% would oppose.

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