House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., distanced himself from Alabama’s new law imposing a near-total ban on abortions.
Republican Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey this week signed the measure, which outlaws abortions unless the mother’s life is threatened by her pregnancy and will make performing abortions a felony punishable by up to 99 years in prison.
“It goes further than I believe, yes,” McCarthy told reporters on Capitol Hill on Thursday. “First of all, I believe the most precious gift God gives us is life. And I’ve defended my pro-life position for my whole political career. But in my whole political career, I’ve also believed in rape, incest, and the life of the mother as exceptions. That’s exactly what Republicans have voted on in this House, that’s what our platform says.”
But the top GOP lawmaker demurred when asked whether he would like to see the law overturned.
“I’m not an attorney, I’m not on the Supreme Court, I’ll have them look at it,” McCarthy said. “I think his point was to try to get it to the court. I think he said, the individual tried to make it to an extreme position to try and make it a debate inside the court, so I’ll let the court make that decision,” he added, referring to Republican state Sen. Clyde Chambliss.
The ACLU has already pledged to challenge the legislation, as has Planned Parenthood.
House Republicans are currently pushing a discharge petition to bring a bill by Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., requiring appropriate medical care for babies who survive abortion procedures to the chamber’s floor. As of this week, the conference has asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to consider the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act more than 30 times.
[Related: Televangelist Pat Robertson: Alabama abortion law too extreme]
