J.D. Vance Says Lindsey Graham's Abortion Bill Is 'Totally Reasonable'

J.D. Vance, Ohio's Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, said the national abortion bill proposed by South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham was "totally reasonable" during Monday night's debate against Democratic hopeful Tim Ryan.

Vance, when asked by debate moderators if he would vote for Graham's bill that bans abortion after 15 weeks, said he thinks it's "totally reasonable to say you cannot abort a baby, especially for elective reasons, after 15 weeks of gestation."

"No civilized country allows it," Vance continued. "I don't want the United States to be an exception."

The statement Monday furthers the position Vance took during the first debate against Ryan last week, where the Trump-endorsed candidate said that while the issue of abortion should be regulated by state legislatures, he would support a "minimum national standard" on the issue, reported The Columbus Dispatch.

Vance reiterated that he supported the idea of allowing states to "make up their mind" in addition to a national standard, saying "California is going to have a different view than Ohio, that's totally fine."

According to a report from The Daily Beast, Vance had refused to say whether he supported Graham's proposed bill at a campaign rally last month.

Graham's bill would also allow for exceptions in the instance of rape, incest or if the life of the mother is at risk. According to the report from the Dispatch, Vance has been opposed to exceptions for rape and incest in the past.

When asked on Monday about what exceptions to abortion he supports, Vance said that he couldn't "say on a debate stage every single thing that you're going to vote for when it comes to an abortion piece of legislation." The statement was later shared in a clip on Twitter by Heartland Signal.

"What I am willing to do and what I think is a lot more helpful for voters who are actually listening to this is to say, No. 1, what are my principles," Vance continued during the debate. "My principles here are I want to save as many lives as possible."

Ryan said on Monday that he would work to stop a national gestation standard for abortion, and specifically criticized the bill from Graham, the longtime Republican senator, when asked how he would "protect the woman's right to choose" if faced with a GOP-controlled House and Senate.

"These are complicated circumstances. So if the Republicans control the House, and the Senate, we won't be able to codify Roe v. Wade, which I think is a smart move to move us away from chaos and back to some stability. So I will spend all my time trying to fight the national abortion ban," Ryan said.

"We've seen how difficult this has been in Ohio," Ryan added, in reference to restrictions on abortion. "We see a couple of stories every week where women are in difficult circumstances and Ohio health care workers won't take care of them."

Newsweek has reached out to Vance's campaign for further comment.

Update 10/17/22, 8:18 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information and background.