Abortion

The landscape of abortion bans, in one map

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The measure bans abortions when doctors can first detect a heartbeat.

Democrats in North Dakota are already raising funds off a new state law that bans abortions at about six weeks of fetal development, the earliest cut-off point in the nation.

The North Dakota Democratic Party asked supporters for donations just hours after Gov. Jack Dalrymple (R) signed the so-called "heartbeat" ban into law.

"North Dakota has passed some of the most extreme legislation in the country, effectively limiting women's rights to make her own private healthcare choices," said Rania Batrice, communications director with the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party, in a statement. 

The bills are certain to draw legal challenges that could end up in the Supreme Court.

A proposed amendment to the Senate budget urges Congress to criminalize some abortions in the District of Columbia based on the disputed premise that fetuses can feel pain at 20 weeks of development.

Sen. Mike Lee introduced the measure Thursday amid a flood of other GOP amendments designed to inflict political pain on Democrats.

The Utah Republican tried to attach a similar amendment (#252) to last year's cybersecurity bill but was unsuccessful. The House rejected its own 20-week D.C. abortion ban under suspension of the rules in July. 

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Tuesday he's open to "thousands of exceptions" to a ban on abortion. 

Paul has said he believes life begins at conception, but in an interview with CNN the Republican emphasized he is also a physician who treats each case individually.

"What I would say is that there are thousands of exceptions," Paul told CNN host Wolf Blitzer in response to a question about exceptions to a ban. 

"You know, I'm a physician and every individual case is going to be different and everything's going to be particular to that individual case and what's going on with that mother and the medical circumstances of that mother," he said.

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The Republican National Committee has learned the wrong lessons from its 2012 losses, the Susan B. Anthony List said Monday.

SBA List, which opposes abortion rights, said the RNC took the wrong approach to abortion and other social issues in its report evaluating the 2012 election and making recommendations for future races.

Republicans shouldn't focus solely on the economy, at the expense of abortion and social issues, in their push to win over women and young voters, SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser said.

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Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) introduced legislation Thursday to effectively outlaw U.S. abortions by counting fetuses as citizens.

Paul's bill, the Life at Conception Act, would lend the protections of the 14th Amendment to unborn humans, entitling them to due process and equal protection rights.

Paul's office said the measure "does not amend or interpret the Constitution" but merely relies on its current language. The 14th Amendment was ratified during Reconstruction to protect the citizenship of newly freed slaves.