Lindsey Graham Says Abortion ‘Not a States Rights Issue’ Weeks After Calling It a States Rights Issue

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) had a moment on Fox & Friends where he not only declared that banning abortion ought to be a national issue, but he also made it clear he lied when he said abortion should be left up to the states to decide.

Graham joined the morning talk show on Tuesday as his fellow Republicans remain divided over his proposal to ban abortion nationwide after 15 weeks of pregnancy. the senator began the interview by tripling down on the bill, declaring “there is no shame in being pro-life” and likening the Democrats’ policy positions to those of China and North Korea.

My position is 15 weeks. France is at 14 weeks, exceptions for rape, incest, life of the mother, and the states can do more if they want to, up to 15 weeks. I want to be a nation that is civilized. I don’t want to be China, I don’t want to be North Korea.

From there, Carley Shimkus addressed the fact that some conservatives have backed away from Graham while saying abortion should be decided at the state level.

“There are a lot of Republicans who believe in federalism and states’ rights and on things like deciding their own laws on abortion,” she said. “This federal abortion ban would go against that.”

Graham’s response:

This is not a state’s rights issue. This is a human rights issue. At 15 weeks, a baby sucks his thumb, at 20 weeks you are encouraged to sing to a child…I don’t care what California does on most things. I care here. I am not going to sit on the sidelines in Washington, D.C., and tell the pro-life community “Washington is closed for business.”

Graham has been facing accusations of hypocrisy for about a week since this is a rather different take from what he had when the Supreme Court was about to rule on abortion with Dobbs V. Jackson.

Before the rollback of federal protections on abortion rights, Graham had a statement that said, “If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, it means that every state will decide if abortion is legal and on what terms. That, in my view, is the most constitutionally sound way of dealing with this issue and the way the United States handled the issue until 1973.”

On top of that, Graham gave an interview on CNN in August where he said, “I think states should decide the issue of marriage and states should decide the issue of abortion.”

Watch above via Fox News.