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.”
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.
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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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