Televangelist Pat Robertson, who is opposed to abortion, criticized an anti-abortion bill passed by the Alabama legislature Tuesday as “extreme.”
“I think Alabama has gone too far,” he said during a Wednesday appearance on “The 700 Club“, referencing the bill’s 99-year maximum sentence for doctors who perform abortions and the fact that it does not provide exceptions for rape or incest cases.
He added that he does not think the bill would be upheld by the Supreme Court. {mosads}
“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 said.
“The Alabama case, God bless them, they’re trying to do something, but I don’t think that’s the case that I’d want to bring to the Supreme Court,” he later reiterated.
Alabama’s state Senate on Wednesday passed a bill that would ban almost all abortions, sending the bill to the governor’s desk. Gov. Kay Ivey’s (R) has not said whether she would sign the bill into law.
If it is passed, the legislation would prohibit abortion in all cases, including rape and incest, except for when the mother’s life was in danger. People who perform abortions would face sentences from 10 to 99 year, but the person receiving the abortion would not be punished.
Lawmakers tabled the legislation last week after a shouting match erupted when lawmakers decided not to include an exception for rape and incest cases.