Not a single woman senator voted to pass Alabama's abortion ban

Abortion.
(Image credit: Reuters/Christopher Aluka Berry)

Only three women had a voice on Alabama's abortion ban that passed its Senate on Tuesday, and they all voted against it.

Meanwhile, the state Senate's Republican coalition is made up entirely of white men, and 25 of its members voted in favor of the bill while two abstained. Gov. Kay Ivey (R) now seems likely to sign the bill, which was put on her desk by a legislature that's 84.3 percent men, Al.com reports.

The Alabama state Senate voted Tuesday night to make it a felony to perform or receive an abortion, with exceptions only allowed for the health of the mother and not for cases of rape or incest. The bill primarily affects women, yet it passed despite the protests of the only three women present for the vote. The Senate's fourth woman member did not vote due to illness.

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The bill was sponsored in the state's lower House of Representatives by a woman lawmaker, Rep. Terri Collins (R). She introduced the bill with the intention of "revisit[ing] the constitutionally-flawed Roe v. Wade decision," she said in a release last month. All of the House's GOP members voted to send it to the Senate, save for three who abstained. Ivey has said she wants to read the whole bill before deciding whether to sign it, but Al.com reports she's generally supported abortion bans without rape or incest exceptions.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.