Abortion

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. 

Planned Parenthood's advocacy arm endorsed Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) on Wednesday in his Senate primary against Rep. Stephen Lynch.

Planned Parenthood Action Fund President Cecile Richards praised Markey's record of supporting abortion rights and his advocacy for President Obama's signature healthcare law.

Lynch has tacked left on abortion rights during the primary, emphasizing that he believes abortion should remain legal. But he has previously supported abortion restrictions and has a mixed voting record on the issue.

Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.), who is weighing a campaign for Senate, said he regrets defending former Rep. Todd Akin's (R-Mo.) infamous "legitimate rape" remarks.

A group of House Republicans said Tuesday that a bill to fund the federal government should include provisions targeting the contraception mandate in President Obama's healthcare law.

GOP lawmakers reintroduced a bill Tuesday to repeal the contraception mandate. They also pressed their party's leaders to roll back the provision as part of a continuing resolution later this month to keep the federal government operating.

"This attack on religious freedom demands immediate congressional action," the 14 lawmakers wrote. "Nothing short of a full exemption for both nonprofit and for-profit entities will satisfy the demands of the Constitution and common sense."

Opponents of abortion rights are rallying support for softening President Obama's birth-control mandate in a bill to fund the government.

The current continuing resolution, or CR, expires March 27. On Monday, a coalition of groups that oppose abortion called for a new CR that will allow certain non-religious groups not to cover the "morning after" pill in their health plans.

"There must be no religious 'test' by the government as to who, and what type of entities, are entitled to a conscience," said Susan B. Anthony (SBA) List President Marjorie Dannenfelser in a statement. "Congress must act immediately to ensure the right of citizens to be free from government compulsion of this most fundamental issue." 

Republicans hope the study confirms their suspicion the groups are focusing more on abortion and less on other healthcare services.