Alabama state Rep. John Rogers, a Democrat, said, while debating a bill that would ban most abortions in the state, “Some kids are unwanted, so you kill them now or you kill them later.”
“You bring them in the world unwanted, unloved, you send them to the electric chair,” Rogers continued. “So, you kill them now or you kill them later.”
U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne, a Republican from Alabama who is challenging Sen. Doug Jones in 2020 for his Senate seat, tweeted:
The Alabama state House overwhelmingly approved a measure Tuesday that would ban most abortions in the state.
Lawmakers in the House voted, 74-3, to approve the legislation after most Democrats walked out of the chamber, refusing to vote.
Rogers chastised his colleagues for their decision to walk out of the chamber, reported Yellow Hammer News.
“When you’re opposed to something, stand there and fight it,” Rogers said. “I’m not leaving and walking out… I’m not scared of a fight.”
According to Yellow Hammer, Rogers added: “I may bring a bill to force all men to have vasectomies. That would end this whole debate. There would be no more abortions and eventually no more voters.”
The Human Life Protection Act, HB 314, would make abortion a Class A felony and attempted abortion a Class C felony. The only exceptions are in cases in which “abortion is necessary in order to prevent a serious health risk to the unborn child’s mother.”
The measure would make performing an abortion punishable by a minimum of ten years for an abortionist.
“The heart of this bill is to confront a decision that was made by the courts in 1973 that said the baby in a womb is not a person,” said Republican state Rep. Terri Collins, who sponsored the bill in the state House, reported the Associated Press. She added that while such a ban would likely be struck down by lower courts, the goal is to get to the Supreme Court.