RNC Chair Says Alabama Abortion Ban Should Have Exceptions For Rape And Incest
Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel voiced disapproval of a key part of Alabama’s new abortion ban on Friday, taking issue with its lack of exceptions for cases of rape and incest.
“Personally, I would have the exceptions,” she told CNN. “That’s my personal belief, but we are a party that is a broad tent. If you agree with us 80% of the time, I want you to be a Republican. We don’t have a litmus test as to whether you can belong to our party, but we are the party of life.”
McDaniel pointed to lawmakers such as Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who have broken from the GOP on major issues in the past. Collins has called Alabama’s law “extreme,” and Murkowski has yet to take a public stance on it.
Top House Republican Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) said this week that the law “goes further than I believe,” and conservative pundit Tomi Lahren called it “too restrictive.”
“Personally, I would have the exceptions” for rape and incest in the controversial Alabama abortion law, @GOPChairwoman Ronna McDaniel says.
“But we are a party that’s a broad tent … we are the party of life.” https://t.co/z3oIa0iHM6 pic.twitter.com/BmuVHZEEoc— New Day (@NewDay) May 17, 2019
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) on Wednesday signed the abortion bill ― the most restrictive in the U.S. ― into law. It would make the procedure illegal unless the pregnant woman’s life was in danger.
It could go into effect in six months, but that leaves time for legal challenges that could delay or block the law from being implemented.
A number of Democratic presidential candidates, including Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), have strongly condemned the law. Warren on Friday released a statement urging Congress to codify Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision affirming women’s rights to abortions.
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
