Keystone Today

U.S. Senate candidate Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D-PA) has voiced his opposition to a 15-week abortion ban and has supported codifying Roe v. Wade into federal law.

According to WESA, Pittsburgh’s NPR news station, Fetterman opposes U.S Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) proposal to place a ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Fetterman's opponent, Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz, is pro-life and said he only believes abortion should be allowed in cases of rape, incest or when the mother's life at risk.

“John believes abortion is a decision that should only be made by a woman and her doctor,” Fetterman’s campaign said.

Graham introduced a federal 15-week abortion ban proposal that, according to his website, would “bring U.S. abortion policy in line with other nations.” The bill would restrict abortions after the 15-week gestation period, except in cases of rape, incest or the mother’s life being at risk. His bill prohibits doctors from performing abortions after 15 weeks but also allows states with more restrictive abortion laws to keep them.

Graham’s statement on his website says, “It puts the United Stares 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 uploaded by Forbes Breaking News

While the position of abortion laws is very partisan when it comes to politicians, studies have been done with the general public that have shown many respondents support a 15-week abortion ban.

The Wall Street Journal conducted a poll of 1,500 voters, showing that 48% supported a 15-week ban on abortion, except in cases of mother’s health, with 43% opposing. This analysis was completed before Roe vs. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court, but at that point, state legislators in Florida and Arizona were already pushing for this ban.

Joann Belmares, 59, of Pennsylvania said in WSJ report, “There has to be a valid reason (for an abortion)” and it “has to be more than ‘I just changed my mind’.” 

Molly Murphy, a Democrat who worked on the poll, said the differing opinions show the “conflict in people’s minds on the issue… Most people want abortion to be legal, but where you draw the line varies."

Between Sept. 16 and 17, the Trafalgar Group conducted a "Federal Abortion Law Nationwide Survey" of 1,077 “likely general election voters,” according to the Trafalgar report. The survey asked respondents to choose between two bills. This first is similar to Graham’s bill, and the second gives women the right to abort at any point during a pregnancy. The survey showed 59.1% of respondents choosing option 1 and 40.9% choosing option 2. The survey had a margin of error of 2.9% and confidence level of 95%. The polling included “live callers, integrated voice response, text messages, emails and two other proprietary digital methods we don’t share publicly,” according to the Trafalgar website

A Harris poll was conducted by Harvard’s Center for Political Studies (CAPS) in June after Roe vs. Wade was overturned. A total of 1,308 voters were asked about their thoughts on abortion with the question, “Do you think your state should allow abortion?” The survey showed 10% said yes to up to nine months, 18% said yes up to 23 weeks, 23% said yes up to 15 weeks, 12% said yes up to six weeks and 37% said yes, but only in case of rape and incest.  It also showed that 84% of GOP respondents wanted a law disallowing abortion after 15 weeks, and 60% of Democrats felt the same way. It also showed that 75% of women surveyed support a 15-week ban.