Pat Robertson thinks Alabama’s abortion legislation went 'too far'

(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter)

published 15 May 2019

Pat Robertson — a renowned former Southern Baptist minister and televangelist who is opposed to abortion — thinks Alabama has gone too far.

In an appearance on The 700 Club, Robertson questioned Alabama's restrictive new abortion legislation, which passed through the state Senate and now awaits the signature of Republican Gov. Kay Ivey. Robertson was particularly skeptical of the harsh 99-year sentences the state could dole out to doctors or anyone else who perform abortions, as well as the fact the law does not provide exceptions for rape and incest.

That said, Robertson was not implying that he had switched sides in the abortion debate. He has made his stance on the matter very clear, writing that abortion is "tantamount to murder." But he has practical reasons for disapproving of Alabama's bill. Robertson argues that if the goal is to overturn Roe v. Wade, the Alabama bill would likely fail at the Supreme Court. Therefore, in Robertson's opinion, it's not the right piece of legislation to bring forward. "I think this one will lose," he said.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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