McConnell Tees Up 2 Abortion Bills in Election Year Push

Two abortion bills are being teed up post-recess by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., which might not have the votes to pass but would force vulnerable senators to go on record on the issue, according to The Hill.

The bills are, per the report:

1. Proposed by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.: Banning abortions after 20 weeks with exceptions for the mother's life, rape, or incest – and doctors violating the law would face up to five years in prison.
2. Proposed by Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb.: Penalizing doctors who do not  "exercise the proper degree of care in the case of a child who survives an abortion or attempted abortion."

Senate passage would require 60 votes and Republicans hold just a 53-47 in the chamber. That would make them unlikely to be passed, but it would pin vulnerable pro choice Democrats down on the issue in an election year, The Hill reported.

Republicans will be holding the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) later this month, too, potentially making abortion a boilerplate voting issue in GOP efforts to hold the Senate, if not retake the House.

"Unfortunately abortion extremism has grown to such an extent in the Democrat Party that leading Democrats – including a Democrat presidential candidate – have not only ruled out banning late-term abortions, they've actually refused to rule out infanticide," Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said on the Senate floor Thursday, per the report.

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