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Jones: Alabama Pro-Lifers Are 'Extreme' and 'Callous'

Sen. Doug Jones (Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images)
May 19, 2019

Sen. Doug Jones (D., Ala.) released a video on Twitter last Monday decrying the recent abortion bill passed in Alabama as "draconian," calling its supporters "callous" and "extreme."

Jones called out Republican legislators, who stood and applauded when the bill, which essentially criminalizes abortion in Alabama, passed the state Senate.

"These Republican legislators, who are overwhelmingly men, are so extreme and so callous that they would support a bill that denies a woman a constitutional right that they have had for decades," Jones said. "They would take away that right and make their doctors and healthcare providers criminals."

https://twitter.com/DougJonesHQ/status/1128094995322494982?s=20

In recent weeks, Jones became embroiled in controversy surrounding the Alabama bill—which female Gov. Kay Ivey signed into law this week—when state Rep. John Rogers (D) criticized the bill during the debate in the state Senate.

"Some kids are unwanted, so you kill them now or you kill them later," Rogers said. "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."

Rogers continued his criticisms, saying that abortion prevents "retarded" and "half-deformed" children from suffering after birth.

Jones later called Rogers to tell him to tone it down, and when the state representative refused, Jones publicly condemned his remarks describing them as "appalling." Rogers responded with a vow to primary Jones in the upcoming Senate election.

"I don’t shuffle," Rogers told AL.com of his phone call with Jones. "The last people [who] yelled at me were my mother and father. I said, ‘Bye. You can’t apologize for me. You attack me, I’ll attack you.' That’s when I hung up on him. He ain't go holler at me."

Rogers later told a local Alabama radio station that he believed Jones agreed with his comments, but was just too "scared" to say it himself.

"[Just because] I spoke out on it," Rogers said. "I think they are scared … they are scared to the bone. I don’t mind telling you, and I told [Jones] this. People agree with me, I’m right."