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5 Republicans who have said the Alabama abortion ban goes 'too far'

May 17, 2019, 12:17 IST

This photograph released by the state shows Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signing a bill that virtually outlaws abortion in the state on Wednesday, May 15, 2019, in Montgomery, Ala. Republicans who support the measure hope challenges to the law will be used by conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision which legalized abortion nationwide. (Hal Yeager/Alabama Governor's Office via AP)Associated Press

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  • On Wednesday, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed the United States' most restrictive abortion bill into law. The The Alabama Human Life Protection Act was passed in the state's Republican-controlled legislature.
  • The measure bans abortions at all stages of pregnancy with no exceptions for rape and/or incest. The only time an abortion would be legal in Alabama is if the mother's health is at risk.
  • The law also includes punitive measures for doctors. Performing an abortion is now classified as a Class A felony punishable by up to 99 years in prison, and an attempt to provide an abortion would be a Class C felony that could land a doctor with up to 10 years in prison.
  • While there are anti-abortion Democrats and pro-choice Republicans, the issue became more reliably partisan following President Richard Nixon's election in 1972, when in a political move to court Catholic voters, Nixon shifted to the right on abortion, Vox explains.
  • However, as The Washington Post noted, the Alabama bill is putting Republican lawmakers on the defense - especially given past lost elections due to extreme views on the issue (i.e. Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock).
  • Some Republican lawmakers' strategy is just to stay mum on the issue. But for these five prominent conservatives, Alabama's law crossed a line.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

On Wednesday, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed the United States' most restrictive abortion bill into law. The The Alabama Human Life Protection Act was passed in the state's Republican controlled legislature. In the Alabama House it sailed through by a vote of 25 to 6 and in the Alabama Senate on Tuesday, 74 to 3.

The law, which is sure to be challenged in court, goes into effect in six months.

The measure bans abortions at all stages of pregnancy with no exceptions for rape and/or incest. The only time an abortion would be legal in Alabama is if the mother's health is at risk. The law also includes punitive measures for doctors. Performing an abortion is now classified as a Class A felony punishable with up to 99 years in prison, and an attempt to provide an abortion would be a Class C felony that could land a doctor with up to 10 years in prison.

Alabama's restrictive law is just one in a string of bills passed at the state level - on Thursday, the Missouri Senate passed a bill banning abortion after eight weeks with no exceptions for rape and/or incest - with the goal of moving through the judicial system to the Supreme Court in an effort to challenge Roe v. Wade.

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Roe, the current Supreme Court precedent, gives women the right to choose to terminate a pregnancy making these newly-signed laws unconstitutional.

While there are anti-abortion Democrats and pro-choice Republicans, the issue became more reliably partisan following President Richard Nixon's election in 1972, when in a political move to court Catholic voters, Nixon shifted to the right on abortion, Vox explains.

"In the late 1970s, fundamentalist Christians became outraged by Supreme Court decisions banning school prayer and legalizing abortion and by Jimmy Carter's decision to withdraw tax-exempt status from segregated church schools," according to a study "The politics of abortion: a historical perspective," posted on the National Institutes of Health website. "This group was mobilized by radio and television preachers, especially televangelist Jerry Falwell who also used scare tactics to promote his Moral Majority."

And through the years, Vox explains, the issue has only become more partisan.

GOP-led state legislatures have passed bills to severely limit abortion (placing time restrictions on the procedure, or imposing laws that could cause abortion clinics to close, or implementing invasive procedures like transvaginal ultrasounds prior to the procedure, or waiting periods).

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However, as The Washington Post noted, the Alabama bill is putting Republican lawmakers on defense - especially given past lost elections due to extreme views on the issue (i.e. Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock).

Some Republican lawmakers' strategy is just to stay mum on the issue, The Post points out. But for these five prominent conservatives, Alabama's law crossed a line.

Pat Robertson

Robertson is a conservative Christian televangelist, who unsuccessfully ran for president as a Republican in 1988.

As noted in "The politics of abortion: a historical perspective," Robertson was the head of the Christian Coalition, which worked to mobilize voters on the issues of opposing abortion and marriage equality and rose to prominence in the 1980s.

He still opposes abortion, but told the "700 Club" on Wednesday that Alabama went "too far."

"It's an extreme law, and they want to challenge Roe vs. Wade, but my humble view is that this is not the case we want to bring to the Supreme Court because I think this one will lose," he continued.

Tomi Lahren

Lahren, a conservative commentator and Fox Nation host, is admittedly pro-choice, from a libertarian standpoint.

"You know what?" she said on "The View" in 2017. "I'm for limited government, so stay out of my guns, and you can stay out of my body as well."

"Listen, I am not glorifying abortion," she tweeted following backlash to her statements on "The View." "I don't personally advocate for it. I just don't think it's the government's place to dictate."

On Thursday, she tweeted that the Alabama law was "too restrictive."

"I will be attacked by fellow conservatives for saying this but so be it, this Alabama abortion ban is too restrictive," she wrote. "It doesn't save life, it simply forces women into more dangerous methods, other states or countries. You don't encourage life via blanket government mandate!"

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said on Thursday that he believes the Alabama law "goes further than I believe."

"I believe in exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother, and that's what I've voted on," he said during a press conference, referring to the fact that Alabama's law does not have exceptions for rape and/or incest.

The exception for rape and/or incest issue also caused a kerfuffle in the Alabama Senate ahead of voting for the bill, when the floor erupted with shouting over an amendment to include the exception. The amendment was ultimately defeated on Tuesday and the bill was passed.

Though in the past when he was in the California State Assembly he supported abortion rights, according to a 2003 Los Angeles Times article, he has never supported spending government dollars on abortion care.

His more recent stance is against abortion rights — including supporting the Hyde Amendment and voting to remove federal funding for Planned Parenthood.

Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine

Sen. Collins is a pro-choice Republican from Maine (a state that Hillary Clinton won in 2016).

She called Alabama's measure "terrible" on Thursday.

"The Alabama law is a terrible law — it's very extreme — it essentially bans all abortions," she told CNN. "I can't imagine that any justice could find that to be consistent with the previous precedents."

Critics are pointing out that Collins voted to place Justice Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, despite his previous rulings in abortion-related cases and the fact that he was supported by anti-abortion groups.

At the time, Collins said she was satisfied with Kavanaugh's answers that Roe was "an important precedent of the Supreme Court."

Kavanaugh's presence on the Supreme Court, tipping it conservative, is partially what anti-abortion activists are citing as a reason for putting forth strict abortion laws.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska

Sen. Murkowski, a moderate Republican from Alaska, has a record of being generally pro-choice and is a member of abortion-rights groups including the Republican Majority for Choice.

She hasn't explicitly come out against the Alabama bill.

"I think you know where I come from on that," she said to reporters on Thursday. "I believe that there need to be exceptions."

Murkowski has been criticized in the past for confirming anti-choice judges despite her abortion-rights leanings.

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