Republican McCarthy says he's opposed to the abortion law in Alabama

Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), House Minority Leader, said Thursday that he was opposed to a new Alabama law banning virtually all abortions, even in case of abortions. rape and incest, claiming that she "goes further than I believe it".

"I believe in the exceptions for rape, incest and mother's life, and that's what I voted on," McCarthy said at his weekly press conference.

The new anti-abortion law in Alabama, the strictest in the country, has divided the Republicans and put them on the defensive. Until this week, Republicans had outraged Democrats, due to the recent New York law aimed at expanding access to late abortion.

In addition to not including exceptions for rape or incest, the law also allows for up to 99 years in prison for doctors performing abortions.

Republicans are wary of a 2012 recovery when they lost two major Senate races in Indiana and Missouri after party candidates in those states commented on pregnancies resulting from rape. The debate over Alabama's law also comes at a time when Republicans are seeking to break through with women from the suburbs, an electoral bloc that they lost when the House resumed by the Democrats in 2018 .

Longtime televangelist Pat Robertson, who criticized the Alabama bill this week, called it "extreme".

Trump and the White House have been remarkably silent on the law, and Republican senators such as Martha McSally (Arizona) and Thom Tillis (NC), facing a tough run of reelection next year, have been reluctant to weigh in. l & # 39; before.

At his Thursday press conference, McCarthy said the exceptions to rape and incest are "exactly what Republicans voted on in the House." That's what our platform says. form. "

President Trump said in 2016 that he would be in favor of modifying the platform to include exceptions for rape, incest and the mother's life. But the platform does not actually include these exceptions. A McCarthy spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

McCarthy also declined to give an opinion on whether the Alabama law should be overturned.

"Look, I'm not a lawyer. I am not in the Supreme Court, "said McCarthy, adding that it was up to the Supreme Court judges to decide.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), Spokesman for the other Republican in Congress, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Alabama law.