Lindsey Graham repeats false claim that Democrats support 'abortion at the moment of birth' on CNN

• Sen. Lindsey Graham had a moment on CNN when discussing abortion on Sunday.
• Graham falsely claimed that Democrats support abortion up until the "moment of birth."

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina made a grand display of righteous indignation on CNN during a discussion about abortion on Sunday.

The senator repeated claims that Democrats support elective abortion at birth – a claim that medical experts say is false.

"What the Democratic Party proposes on abortion is barbaric. Abortion up to the moment of birth, taxpayer-funded," Graham, a Republican, told CNN's Dana Bash on "State of the Union."

But that's not true.

Shortly before the US Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, Democratic lawmakers proposed legislation that would allow abortion after fetal viability when — and only when — doctors believe continuing the pregnancy would pose a risk to the pregnant patient's life. Such a scenario is exceedingly rare, and at no point have Democrats widely supported abortion "at the moment of birth."

That proposed legislation followed the precedent set by Roe v. Wade, which allowed abortion up to the point of viability (or around 24 weeks of gestation when a fetus might survive outside the uterus) with few exceptions, CNN's Bash pointed out.

That prompted an emotional outcry from Graham.

"No, that's no – no, no, quit covering for these guys. No, no, no. Media, you keep covering for these guys. They introduced legislation that allowed abortion demand with taxpayer-funded – you paying for it, the taxpayer – up to the moment of birth," Graham responded.

Graham said on CNN that he opposes "late-term abortion," a non-medical term that politicians and anti-abortion advocates have used to describe abortions after 21 to 23 weeks of gestation. The term has "no clinical or medical significance," according to The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, or ACOG.

Graham's claims that abortions are taking place "at the moment of birth" are also false. Many Republicans have claimed that this is now the grisly reality of women's healthcare, despite pushback from medical professionals who say that's a "complete falsehood."

"An abortion at term is a desired pregnancy in the context of an extremely dire emergency without sufficient time for a safe C-section, when a woman would otherwise die," retired gynecologist Debbie McNabb previously told Insider. "This is a rare medical situation that no amount of medical information could inform a lawmaking body sufficiently for them to draft a specific law."

"Statements about 'abortion up until the point of birth' or 'elective abortion' are unscientific and crafted to polarize the conversation about abortion," according to ACOG.

According to 2020 CDC data, less than 1% of abortions were performed past 21 weeks of gestation. A full-term pregnancy is 39 to 40 weeks.

The vast majority of abortions – more than 93% – that were reported in 2020 were performed at or before 13 weeks of gestation, according to the CDC.

Last year, Graham, who previously claimed abortion was a state's rights issue, proposed a nationwide abortion ban after 15 weeks of gestation.