Only male Alabama senators voted Tuesday to pass the most restrictive abortion bill in the country, which criminalizes abortion in the state and bans the procedure in nearly all cases including rape and incest.
The bill then went to the desk of the state’s female Republican governor, Kay Ivey, who signed it into law Wednesday.
After hours of debate, the Republican-led Senate voted 25-6 on party lines to pass HB 314.
All of the bill’s 25 “yea” votes were from Republican men, including State Sen. Clyde Chambliss, who ushered the bill through the chamber. The remaining two Republicans, both men, did not vote.
There are four women serving in the state Senate and all of them are Democrats who, along with their other Democratic colleagues, did not vote for the bill.
State Sens. Linda Coleman-Madison and Vivian Davis Figures voted against the bill. State Sen. Malika Sanders-Fortier abstained from voting, and state Sen. Priscilla Dunn’s vote was marked pass, meaning not voting or not present.
The bill passed the Alabama House earlier this month in a 74-3 vote.
Of the 76 GOP members in the House, all Republican male lawmakers voted in favor of the bill, except for two who did not vote.
The bill’s sponsor in the House is a woman, Republican state Rep. Terri Collins. She, along with the six other Republican women in the House, voted to pass the bill.
Nearly all Democratic House members chose not to vote, walking out of the House chamber in protest.
This story has been updated.
CNN’s Caroline Kelly contributed to this report.
