National Republican leaders are distancing themselves from abortion bans like the one in Alabama that don’t allow exceptions for cases of rape and incest.
Republican leaders have begun distancing themselves from new, far-reaching state abortion restrictions that don’t allow exceptions in the cases of rape or incest.
The Republican leaders in both the House and Senate expressed reservations about the sweeping bans, stressing their support for exceptions in the cases of rape and incest.
“I believe in exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother, and that’s what I’ve voted on,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) said Thursday.
Alabama this week approved a law to ban abortion at any stage of pregnancy,with no exceptions for rape or incest. That came on the heels of laws in other states — including Ohio, Kentucky and Mississippi — that ban the procedure when a fetal heartbeat is detected, at about six weeks of pregnancy, also with no exceptions for rape or incest. All of the legislation includes exceptions for abortions to preserve a woman’s life.
Republican lawmakers in Alabama and elsewhere have said their goal is to give the Supreme Court’s conservative majority an opportunity to reverse the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision, which legalized abortion nationwide.
The bans have activated the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates and other prominent Democrats in opposition. But some Republicans in Washington also say they oppose new abortion restrictions that don’t allow for the rape and incest exceptions.
