Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) will be the lead sponsor on a Senate bill to ban abortions after 20 weeks, Fred Barnes of The Weekly Standard is reporting.

Barnes indicated that several sources confirmed the move, with many pro-life groups urging the conservative senator to tackle the issue on the national level — as a similar measure is debated in Texas.

Rubio has been steadfast in his pro-life views, offering several anti-abortion bills while in the Florida state legislature. He holds a 100% rating from the pro-life National Right to Life Committee (while also holding 0% from pro-choice Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America).

“The issue of life is not a political issue, nor is it a policy issue, it is a definitional issue. It is a basic core issue that every society needs to answer,” Rubio told a pro-life convention in February of last year.

Writes Barnes:

The bill faces an uphill fight in the Democrat-controlled Senate and a veto threat by President Obama. But win or lose, Republicans and the leaders of the pro-life movement regard the 20-week ban as an especially favorable issue for their cause – and one that might strengthen GOP candidates in the 2014 midterm election.

Rubio's popularity has waned in recent months — especially among conservative Republicans — as he had taken the lead in the immigration debate and alienated "just about everyone" as Brett Logiurato reported.