Fact check: GOP group says Republicans don't want to throw abortion doctors 'in jail'
The day after the leak of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's draft opinion reversing Roe v. Wade, the National Republican Senatorial Committee sent lawmakers and candidates suggested talking points on abortion. PolitiFact checks the claim that doctors don't want to throw doctors in jail.
Posted — UpdatedThe day after the leak of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s draft opinion reversing Roe v. Wade, the National Republican Senatorial Committee sent lawmakers and candidates suggested talking points on abortion.
One of those facts was: "Republicans DO NOT want to throw doctors and women in jail. Mothers should be held harmless under the law."
We focused on the committee’s statement about not wanting to throw doctors in jail because Republican-controlled states have included prison sentences for doctors in recently passed laws that restrict abortion. (The risk of prison for mothers is less clear.)
In each state, Republicans control both legislative chambers, as well as the governor’s office.
To the four Republican-controlled states listed above, we can add Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and Wyoming. In each state, a doctor found guilty of breaking the law faces a possible, or in some cases, a mandatory prison sentence.
When asked for supporting information about the treatment of doctors in Republican states, the National Republican Senatorial Committee sent none.
PolitiFact ruling
In a memo to Republican candidates and lawmakers, the National Republican Senatorial Committee said that Republicans do not want to throw doctors in jail for violating abortion laws.
Many Republican-controlled states have penalties for people who perform illegal abortions that include prison sentences, including a maximum of life imprisonment. In the U.S. Senate, a proposal with a potential prison sentence was co-sponsored by nearly the entire Republican caucus.
We rate this claim Pants on Fire.
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