Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier warned Republicans on Tuesday that they are “going down the wrong road” heading into the midterm elections after Sen Lindsey Graham introduced a proposal for a national 15-week abortion ban.
In an appearance alongside John Roberts on the programme America Reports on Tuesday afternoon, Baier sounded the alarm that the party’s attempts to limit and criminalise access to abortion has the potential to upend their efforts to retake the US House and Senate in November.
“I do think the Dobbs case and the US Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade had a big effect on independents and women in particular — and suburban voting areas especially,” Baier said. “And now with Sen Graham’s effort, it is raising eyebrows about — are Republicans going down the wrong road with the nationwide abortion ban after 15 weeks, after saying it’s up to the states in the wake of Dobbs?”
Baier’s warning is backed by ample evidence. Democratic political fortunes dramatically rebounded this summer, with Democratic candidates outperforming President Joe Biden’s 2020 election result in every special congressional election held in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe. In a referendum in August, Kansans voted overwhelmingly to protect their right to abortion care.
Mr Biden himself has seen improvement in his poll numbers as well, while his party is now favoured to retain control of the Senate and limit Republican gains in the House to between 10 and 20 seats.
While there are likely numerous reasons for Mr Biden’s resurgence — including the passage of his signature spending and climate bill, his student debt cancellation plan, and dropping gas prices — new voter registration numbers across the country also suggest that Democratic voters are newly motivated in the Supreme Court decision.
With the midterm elections now less than two months away and a firm majority of Americans describing themselves as pro-choice, Mr Graham made the surprising decision on Tuesday to unveil his proposal to ban abortion nationally at 15 weeks of pregnancy — taking the choice out of the hands of individual states.
The White House and a number of high-profile Democrats blasted Mr Graham’s proposal, which would represent another drastic setback for abortion access and rights in the US. Several Republicans also distanced themselves from the proposal, with Sen John Cornyn of Texas announcing his opposition to the bill and several other senators, including Sen Rick Scott of Florida and Sen Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, declining to comment either way on it.
Baier said he believed that Mr Graham’s intention was electorally-minded, but admitted the bill might not be coming across in the way he intended.
“I think the premise of Sen Graham was to say, put a 15-week number on it so that you could have some candidates that say, ‘I sign on to this. Democrats, do you sign on to abortion after 15 weeks?’ and then turn the tables,” Baier said. “I’m not sure it’s working like that today on this first day of that bill coming out or him talking about it.”
