An Alabama state representative made shocking comments about killing children while debating a bill that would severely restrict abortion in the state.
“Some kids are unwanted, so you kill them now or you kill them later,” state Rep. John Rogers said on the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives on April 29.
“Some parents can’t handle a child with problems. It could be retarded. It might have no arms and no legs,” he added, reported the Alabama Political Reporter.
Rogers claimed to be a pro-life Catholic but said that the Legislature should not cut off abortion access to women.
Alabama State Rep. John Rogers (D) on abortion: “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. So, you kill them now or you kill them later” pic.twitter.com/dxPg6X759h
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) May 1, 2019
“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,” Rogers also said.
The bill, dubbed the “Alabama Human Life Protection Act,” passed 74-3 this week. Some Democrats chose to walk out instead of vote.
The bill would institute a near-total ban on abortions, stating only if there is a serious risk to the prospective mother’s health by continuing the pregnancy or if the child would die shortly after birth or be stillborn.
The bill noted that under Alabama law, a person is defined as including an unborn child at any stage of development and that last year, voters in the state approved a constitutional amendment stating that there was no right to an abortion in Alabama’s 1901 Constitution.
“Recent medical advances prove a baby’s heart starts to beat at around six weeks. As early as six weeks after fertilization, fetal photography shows the clear development of a human being,” it stated.
The bill challenged Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision, saying, “Roe v. Wade attempted to define when abortion of an unborn child would be legal” and “Judges and legal scholars have disagreed and dissented with its finding.”
The bill’s passage came about six months after voters in Alabama passed a constitutional amendment, which would outlaw abortions in the state if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.
U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne, a Republican who is challenging Sen. Doug Jones for his seat in the 2020 elections, said in a post on Twitter: “It’s an abomination that Alabama has a senator in @DougJones who is unabashedly pro-abortion & refuses to stand up to this type of extremism from members of his party in defense of innocent human life. Alabama deserves a 100% pro-life voice representing us in the U.S. Senate.”
This is stomach curling and makes Ralph Northam look like a moderate on abortion.
Every Democrat running for President needs to be asked where they stand on this. The extreme turn we’ve seen from Dems on abortion recently is truly sickening. https://t.co/KchZfqvQMK
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) May 1, 2019
“This is stomach curling and makes Ralph Northam look like a moderate on abortion. Every Democrat running for president needs to be asked where they stand on this. The extreme turn we’ve seen from Dems on abortion recently is truly sickening,” added Donald Trump Jr., one of President Donald Trump’s sons.
Rogers shocking comments came several months after Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, said that mothers should be able to choose to kill babies even after birth.
“So in this particular example, if a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen. The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired,” Northam said.
“And then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.”
Trump, an openly pro-life president, later slammed Northam during his State of the Union address.
“To defend the dignity of every person, I am asking the Congress to pass legislation to prohibit the late-term abortion of children who can feel pain in the mother’s womb,” he said.
“Let us work together to build a culture that cherishes innocent life. And let us reaffirm a fundamental truth: all children—born and unborn—are made in the holy image of God.”
