NC Senate candidate Ted Budd backs Graham’s proposed 15-week national abortion ban

U.S. Rep. Ted Budd expressed his support this week for a new proposal to ban abortion nationwide that has been poorly received by many of his fellow Republicans on Capitol Hill, including top leaders in the Senate.

The proposal would impose a national ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, while providing exceptions for rape, incest or a pregnancy with life-threatening complications. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, introduced it in the Senate, while Budd signed onto a House bill with the same language introduced by GOP Rep. Christopher Smith of New Jersey.

Budd, a three-term congressman from, is currently running for U.S. Senate and is hoping to keep the seat being vacated by outgoing Sen. Richard Burr in Republican control.

Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida, also said he was cosponsoring the legislation. And dozens of GOP House members signed on, including North Carolina Reps. David Rouzer, Richard Hudson, Virginia Foxx and Dan Bishop. But some Republicans said they were skeptical of the need for a federal prohibition on abortion, or questioned whether the party should tie itself to a specific policy prior to the midterm elections.

Multiple high-ranking Republicans quickly distanced themselves from the proposal, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell telling reporters that most Republicans want abortion policies to be decided in state legislatures, and Sen. John Cornyn of Texas saying the bill was “an individual decision” by Graham, Politico reported.

A spokesperson for Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina was dismissive of Graham’s bill and said Republicans should focus on addressing other issues such as inflation.

“Senator Graham’s bill has no chance of passing the current Congress so the decision will continue to be left to individual states,” the spokesperson told McClatchy.

Current abortion law in North Carolina

In North Carolina, abortions are currently legal until the 20th week of pregnancy, after a federal judge reinstated a 1973 state law last month that bans the procedure after 20 weeks.

Prior to that decision, abortions were allowed until viability, the point at which a fetus can survive outside the womb, and in some cases after viability as well, in accordance with federal protections that were recognized by the Supreme Court until its decision in June to overturn landmark abortion precedents.

The abortion ban proposed by Graham would impose a 15-week ban in every state, except states that impose stricter restrictions of their own, which would continue to apply, according to Politico.

Abortion in Budd vs. Beasley race

Fallout from the Supreme Court decision has elevated abortion as an issue in the races that will decide control of Congress, including the one between Budd and Democrat Cheri Beasley, a former North Carolina chief justice.

Reacting to Budd expressing his approval for the legislation Tuesday, Beasley said in Twitter posts on Wednesday that Budd “is just too extreme for North Carolina” and had shown that he would “lead the charge to take away our personal freedoms as Senator.”

Beasley backs the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would codify protections for abortions until the point of fetal viability into federal law.

In a statement, Budd’s campaign defended his stance on the bill and claimed Beasley supports abortions late in the course of a pregnancy, pointing to her support for the Women’s Health Protection Act.

“Cheri Beasley thinks America is a better place if a healthy baby can be aborted one minute before a full-term birth, a position wildly out-of-step with North Carolinians,” said Samantha Cotten, communications director for the Budd campaign. “We’ve always been transparent that Ted is pro-life and he has previously supported similar pain-capable legislation.”

If enacted, the bill would permit abortions after viability only in cases when, “in the good-faith medical judgment of the treating health care provider, continuation of the pregnancy would pose a risk to the pregnant patient’s life or health.”

The bill passed the House in September 2021 but failed to advance in the Senate when it was considered by the upper chamber a few months later.

Washington correspondent Danielle Battaglia contributed to this report.

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