Lindsey Graham, a 20-year senator from South Carolina, has a long record of pro-life support. The Republican lawmaker boasts a 100% rating from National Right to Life and has been recognized in 2006 as "Legislator of the Year" by the South Carolina Citizens for Life.
While many Americans favor some level of abortion, almost 70% oppose abortion without restrictions. That's according to a Gallup survey released days before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last June.
Graham, as a guest Thursday on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins to discuss Donald Trump's recent CNN town hall, said the former president's work for the unborn while in office surpassed all other presidents.
"Trump was the most consequential pro-life president since I've been in politics, I think ever for the nation. Three supreme court justices [appointed by Trump] paved the way for overturning Roe, [the] Mexico City [policy] – we could go on and on and on. When it came to the pro-life movement, President Trump was there in historic fashion," Graham said.
A conservative-heavy Supreme Court's most visible moment came last summer. In a 6-3 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization – the Mississippi-born case that became the tip of the spear in overturning Roe – the justices in the majority took many of their arguments from their study of European abortion laws.
"The United States is one of only seven nations in the world that permits non-therapeutic or elective abortion-on-demand after the 20th week of gestation," they wrote.
The fact that America is so out-of-step with most of the Western world was a point driven home by the Mississippi writers in their brief to the Supreme Court.
Graham pushes for national 15-weeks ban
Soon after the Roe reversal last summer, Graham introduced legislation that would ban abortion at 15-weeks nationwide.
"A baby conceived in California feels pain at 15 weeks. They suck their thumb at 15 weeks. From a national point of view, I want a minimum standard that makes us more like the civilized world, not North Korea and China," Graham explained during the radio broadcast this week.
"Let's have a national minimum standard," he continued. "States can do more if they would like, but at 15 weeks we draw the line. We stop the dismembering of babies in these deep blue states. If Europe can do it, we can do it."
Some said Graham's legislation would divide Republicans in advance of last fall's mid-term elections, but the Senate veteran sees his pro-life position – aside from its critical most important issue of saving lives – as a winning political issue.
"If you want to win, I would recommend you embrace the pro-life movement as a benefit to your campaign. The pro-life movement knocks on doors, they make phone calls, they pray, they give to the Republican Party. The pro-life movement is one of the anchor tenants to Conservatism," Graham said.
In other words, it's a political no-brainer. "What are we asking America to do? Reject abortion on demand up to the moment of birth using taxpayer dollars. If you can't muster the courage to say that, then you're in the wrong business," Graham emphasized.
His in-your-face challenge fights political fire with fire as the Left has proven it isn't hesitant to push its positions. After the Supreme Court ruling in June, the U.S. House – still controlled by Democrats at the time – passed a broad-based abortion rights bill. It didn't make it out of the Senate.
Penny Nance, the CEO and president of Concerned Women for America, the nation's largest women's public policy organization, agrees with Graham and says those who aggressively speak truth on the abortion issue are "the type of leaders the American people are desperately craving."
What the American people have now are abortion laws lining up with electoral votes. Red states tend to be more restrictive, blue states more liberal. Six states – Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, Alaska, New Jersey and Vermont – offer abortion with zero restrictions.
Republicans aren't the extremists
According to Senator Graham, the atrocities of abortion have become so culturally accepted that for many in the Republican Party even late-term procedures can lose their shock value.
"Trump was the first Republican to understand that [abortion proponents are] the extremists, not us," Graham said. "Donald Trump went on offense last night. I am begging people to go on offense when it comes to the unborn. The public is with us on this issue in Washington."
Graham urges Republicans to get on board with the message and fearlessly promote life.
"Too many of our people run away when they get asked about abortion. People will reject the Democratic Party's position if they know about it, and the only way they're going to know about it is if the Republicans have the guts to talk about it. So yes, Donald Trump showed us how to win," he said.
Graham recently met with Trump and discussed the future of the pro-life movement. He says Trump's stance hasn't changed.
"I feel incredibly comfortable that President Trump sees late-term abortion as out of the mainstream for America, and he'll be there for the pro-life movement in Washington," Graham said.
