Media Tip Sheet: Sen. Lindsey Graham's Proposed Abortion Legislation


September 14, 2022

Many Republicans may be sprinting as far away from the abortion issue as possible, but not Lindsey Graham. The senator from South Carolina proposed legislation that would prohibit abortions after 15 weeks nationwide while allowing states to impose bans that are more restrictive. Graham argues that his bill gives GOP candidates concrete legislation they can point to during their midterm campaigns. Many of his fellow Republicans would rather avoid the issue entirely.

Peter Loge is an associate professor of media and public affairs at the George Washington University and the director of the Project on Ethics in Political Communication. He thinks Graham’s bill is a midterm messaging gift for Democrats and a lump of coal for Republicans.

"Democratic strategists around the country are doing happy dances because Sen. Graham is reminding voters that Republicans want to strip rights from women and want judges to play doctor.

I can't pretend to know what Sen. Graham was thinking, but one can imagine this could be an attempt to draw conservative Republican attention away from Graham's own order to testify before a grand jury in Georgia on questions of trying to undermine the 2020 election, and Trump's apparent theft of classified documents and possible violation of the Espionage Act.

Democrats would rather talk about women's rights than inflation, and Republicans would rather talk about anything other than Donald Trump."

To schedule an interview with Professor Loge, please contact GW Media Relations at [email protected].