When Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed the nation’s most restrictive anti-abortion legislation into law, it touched off a nationwide firestorm.
The law makes abortion illegal, even in cases of rape and incest, unless the mother’s health is at risk, and would punish any doctors performing an abortion after that point with up to 99 years in prison.
It’s widely seen as a law that will end up in front of the Supreme Court as a challenge to the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
“We have long opposed Roe v. Wade ,” Clarke Forsythe, senior counsel for Americans United for Life, told PBS . “It’s an unjust and unconstitutional decision, and we hope it will be overturned as quickly as possible. The question is by what means, what case, and what time frame.”
And indeed, the ACLU almost immediately announced its intention to challenge the law in court.
Reactions have been predictable.
The pro-choice crowd was enraged, and many activists, celebrities, and politicians took to Twitter to give voice to their fury and share their experiences under the #YouKnowMe hashtag.
Meanwhile, the anti-abortion crowd have welcomed the law with open arms.
“I am very excited this bill has passed,” one person told NBC News . “It recognizes that in the womb is a person, and this bill protects the personhood of that child. I think it was important not to allow incest or rape as an exception because we know that that is a child.”
While the reactions fell largely along party lines, at least one opinion on Alabama’s law was unexpected.
Conservative darling and Fox News personality Tomi Lahren spoke out against Alabama’s law, calling it “too restrictive,” and worrying that it will endanger the lives of women.
To say that her reaction was surprising is almost an understatement.
After all, this is the woman who GQ once dubbed “White Power Barbie,” who has a mug labeled “Liberal Tears,” and whose Twitter description reads “Faith. Family. Freedom.”
But it’s also actually consistent for Lahren.
In fact, she was fired from The Blaze after airing pro-choice opinions on an appearance on The View back in 2017.
At the time, she said that because she was in favor of limited government, she would be a hypocrite if she thought the government “should decide what women do with their bodies.”
Still, as much as Lahren’s conservative circle might not have appreciated her stance on Alabama’s law, many folks on Twitter were just as surprised to find themselves agreeing with her for once.
Actress Jessica Chastain replied with her appreciation for Tomi taking a vocal stance that couldn’t have been popular with her supporters.
But by and large, Twitter was simply taken aback.
They weren’t always kind about how they said it, but they said it all the same. “Okay so…I am at a loss for words…I agree with you…that doesn’t even sound normal,” wrote @boysylberry .
Many aren’t sure what to think.
“Wow, I applaud you. I sort of hated your guys for awhile but I appreciate this! And I know this is hard with conservatives coming at you. But yes, women’s rights are human rights!” wrote @alainabriones .
Of course, conservative pundits were quick to attack her.
Which seems silly to me, because she’s not actually saying she’s suddenly 100% pro-choice. Simply that these new bans go too far and will likely increase the number of unsafe abortions.
One response came from Canadian political commentator Faith Goldy.
She accuses Tomi’s assertion that the strict bans won’t save lives as being “anti-Christian, anti-family, and anti-freedom.”
As for women turning towards “more dangerous methods,” Faith seems to be preaching abstinence.
A “quarter between your knees” is a common way of telling girls to keep their legs closed, and either completely misses the whole issue of rape and incest or is a serious case of victim-blaming.
Tomi clapped back at her, pointing out the issue of exceptions.
Either Faith believes that being raped or forced into incest that results in pregnancy has no emotional trauma for the often very young victims or she thinks the victims aren’t worthy of empathy.
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Tomi also closes with some choice words about Faith’s opinion of her Christian beliefs.
It’s a pretty epic burn.
If anything is certain, this debate is nowhere near done — who knows what we’ll hear from whom before the dust settles?
