An Alabama lawmaker is facing major backlash for defending abortion by declaring that if babies are not killed in the womb, society will just dispatch them later using other means.
As reported by Alabama media sources, State Representative John Rogers, a Democrat from Birmingham, posted a video on Twitter defending a woman’s “right” to kill her pre-born baby with the argument: “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 made the comments on May 1 in opposition to Alabama House Bill 314, which would make performing an abortion a felony with possible lengthy prison sentences. His statement was immediately condemned by fellow Alabama lawmakers.
Republican State Representative Terri Collins, the bill’s main sponsor, responded: “I was shocked when he said it, and I thought [the comments] were extremely inappropriate.” Similarly, Republican State Senator Greg Reed called Rogers’ remarks “chilling,” emphasizing that “every human life, no matter how weak or small, has inherent dignity because we are all made in the image of God. House bill 314, which the House passed 74-3, recognizes and protects the dignity of human life, and the Alabama Senate looks forward to debating and voting on this important pro-life measure in the coming days.”
The backlash prompted Rogers to double down on his bizarre statement, insisting that his home state does not truly value life, despite its pro-life stance. “We’ve closed 13 rural hospitals in this state,” Rogers complained. “We have put hundreds of people in jail, making it hard for you to get food stamps. In other words, if you’re on drug tests, you can’t get food stamps. And then you’ve got at least two people a night dying in our Alabama prisons. It just doesn’t make sense. So why do you want to bring these people in the world and then deny them the right to process and live in Alabama?”
President Trump weighed in on Rogers’ comments, calling them “truly sickening,” adding that the lawmaker “makes Ralph Northam look like a moderate on abortion,” referring to Virginia’s Democratic, pro-abortion governor, who earlier this year got into trouble for suggesting that some babies should be allowed to die right after birth.
“Every Democrat running for President needs to be asked where they stand on this,” said Trump. “The extreme turn we’ve seen from Dems on abortion recently is truly sickening.”
Also responding to Rogers was U.S. Representative Steve Scalise (R-La.) who said that “this is how extreme on abortion some on the radical left have become. This is disgusting. That’s why I am calling for a vote on the House Floor to #EndInfanticide. It’s clear that now more than ever, the most innocent form of life needs protection.”
