After the overturn of  Roe v. Wade by The Supreme Court, a new bill introduced by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) proposes strict regulations on abortions.

Under the United States Code, title 18 will be authorized by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in the effort to protect unborn children from pain.

 This act is commonly referred to as the ‘‘Protecting Pain-Capable Unborn Children from Late-Term Abortions Act.”  

The Supreme Court has used medical research and analysis to argue that the unborn child will take on “the human form,” such as development of nociceptors during the gestation period, thereby they will presumably experience pain. 

This argument was prevalent in Gonzales v. Carhart, 17 550 U.S. 124, 160 (2007), as Nebraska’s “partial birth abortion” violated the U.S. Constitution, as it would not regulate most abortions in the third trimester, when they are often preformed. 

This case in particular upheld the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, a notable decision by The Supreme Court years later. 

Thereby, to follow through with this abortion ban, officials have argued that it is unjust for an abortion to be preformed if the unborn child is at 15 weeks of development because of their pain-processing structures in their brain – the thalamus and subcortical plate, for example. 

Although, when performing this surgery, some medical experts sedate the unborn child with anesthesia, which prevents the unborn child from experiencing pain. 

Beyond the unborn child, The Supreme Court has mentioned the physiological and psychological affects an abortion would have on the mother, such as pelvic infections, depression, injuries to their bowel or bladder to name a few. 

Some of the few exceptions to this bill would be that the pregnant woman had a life-endangering condition caused by the pregnancy, the government has legally indicated that the regency was a result of rape or incest that has been reported at least 48 hours before the abortion is preformed, or the pregnant woman has psychological and emotional conditions. 

Beyond this, in order for the physician to perform an abortion, they must obtain a “a signed Informed 23 Consent Authorization form” that would be signed by the woman seeking the procedure and the physician, according to the bill. 

Under section 164.530 of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations, there must be documentation required that would be stored in the patient’s medical file, according to the bill. 

This abortion ban, under the bill, will have a criminal penalty should one seek an abortion if they are not within the exception guidelines. They could be imprisoned for a minimum of five years or other civil action on the woman which the abortion was preformed on, the parent of a minor who received an abortion, or the healthcare professional. 

Graham proposed that abortions shall be criminalized by 20-weeks nationwide, which had been brought to a vote in 2018 by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Results from the voting were 51-46, falling short of the 60 votes needed to pass into a law. 

The bill mentions the chapter 74 of title 18, United States Code, is modifying “Partial Birth Abortions,” from the previous case mentioned earlier, to “Abortions.” 

This proposed nationwide ban on abortion would propose a greater restriction on abortions. 

In a post-Roe America, abortions have been regulated in 15 states, Indiana being the first, creating a strict regulation. 

Abortion clinics have also shared that they’re having trouble accommodating for each patient in a timely manner, seeing as many patients are leaving their states where abortions are banned to seek care elsewhere. 

The issue of abortions has been used as a political campaign strategy for the midterm elections this November by the Democratic and Republican parties. 

Even so, Planned Parenthood is planning to spend $50 million to appoint abortion rights leaders across the United States this November, hoping that there will be a greater turnout of Democratic voters. 

On the contrary, Republican lawmakers have been advocating for a strict abortion ban, the “heartbeat” ban for example, outlawing abortions if there is cardiac activity within the first six weeks. 

Graham said, “I think we should have a law, at the federal level, that would say after 15 weeks no abortion on demand except in cases of rape and incest to save the life of the mother…if we take back the House and the Senate I can assure you we’ll have a vote on our bill.”

Graham makes an effort with this bill to demonstrate the view of majority groups who oppose abortions, thereby a federal abortion ban has been a avid part of his campaign for the November midterm elections.

Republican senators Susan Collins (R-Me.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Ak.) oppose this ban, seeing that instead of it being passed on a federal level, it should be up to the state. Even so, Democrats have noted that this bill is evident of the GOP wanting to respect abortions nationwide, which could be made possible if they gain control of Congress this November. 

Over half of American voters have classified abortions as an important issue that will be in consideration at the polls in the next few months, according to a KFF Health Tracking Poll.