Marco Rubio cosponsors senator’s bill banning abortions nationally after 15 weeks

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio is co-sponsoring a bill that would ban abortions nationwide after 15 weeks, an aide confirmed Wednesday, throwing support behind a measure that both aligns with his longstanding desire to restrict access to abortion and risks complicating his reelection bid less than two months before Election Day.

The bill, unveiled this week by GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, would allow for exceptions after 15 weeks in cases of rape or incest or if the life of the mother is in danger. It is the first attempt to reduce abortion rights federally since the Supreme Court in June revoked the right to abortion in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

The legislation, if passed, would likely have little effect on Florida, which already bans abortions after 15 weeks.

The bill is certain to face fierce resistance in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

In a statement, an aide to Rubio’s Democratic opponent, Rep. Val Demings, blasted his decision to co-sponsor the bill.

“Marco Rubio has never been shy about his support for extremist abortion bans and criminalizing doctors, and cosponsoring this federal ban is just another step in his fight to take away women’s freedom,” said Christian Slater, a Demings spokesman. “As a 27-year law enforcement officer who investigated cases of rape and incest, Chief Demings is committed to protecting Florida’s women and girls. Floridians will hold Rubio accountable for his out of touch stance in November.”

A spokeswoman for Rubio’s campaign fired back that Demings was the candidate with a radical position on abortion rights.

“The radicals here are Democrats like Val Demings, who supports abortion up until the moment of birth — which only a few countries like North Korea and China allow — while expecting taxpayers to foot the bill,” said Elizabeth Gregory, a Rubio campaign spokeswoman.

Graham’s bill surprised Washington and rocked political races across the country this week, with Democrats seizing on it as proof that Republicans, despite their rhetoric, aren’t content to let each state set their own rules and regulations governing the procedure and instead want to impose a national ban.

The measure has also received a cold shoulder from some Republicans: Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell said this week that most of the party’s senators would “prefer this be dealt with at the state level.”

The Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision is widely seen as a primary catalyst for the Democrats’ improved national political fortunes since the summer. The party’s candidates have emphasized their support for abortion rights on the campaign trail, including in TV ads, and President Joe Biden has talked about the issue frequently from the White House.

It’s been a visible issue in the Florida Senate race, too, with Demings frequently using the subject as a cudgel against Rubio. In an ad targeting Rubio released last week, the Democratic nominee said “it’s outrageous to mandate what a woman can and can’t do with their bodies.”

Demings, who is outspoken in her support of abortion rights, has voted for federal legislation that would prohibit government from limiting access to the procedure. She has said recently that she supports the right to abortion “up to the time of viability of the fetus,” as determined by a woman’s doctor.

Rubio, for his part, said in an interview last month that he personally views abortion as “the killing of an unborn human being” but acknowledged he would back laws that allowed for some exceptions.

“I do not believe that the dignity and the worth of human life is tied to the circumstances of their conception,” he told Jim DeFede of CBS Miami. “But I recognize that that’s not a majority position. And therefore, I have always said, I support bills that have exceptions.”

This story was originally published September 14, 2022 at 11:49 AM.