Alabama republican defends bill which prohibits women from having an abortion even in the case of rape or incest

The US state of Alabama has passed a controversial bill which has outlawed abortion procedures in almost all cases including victims of incest or rape.

The law is yet to be made official but was previously approved by the Alabama House of Representatives, which is dominated by men and will now go to the Republican governor of the state Kay Ivey.

However, the law is certain to be challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups who have vowed to sue.

Unlike other abortion bills, which have prevented the procedure from taking place if an embryonic heartbeat can be detected, this bill could see any abortion practitioners could be sentenced to 10 to 99 years in prison.

That being said, any woman who receives an abortion would not be held criminally liable in court but the Alabama Senate did defeat a Democrat bill which would have allowed for illegal abortions if a woman was the victim of rape or incest.

The passing of the bill has been widely condemned on social media with many, including Hillary Clinton branding it an attack on women's basic rights of freedom.

Cylde Chambliss, who has served on the Albama senate since 2014 and was the sponsor of the bill acknowledged in his opening statement that he wasn't sure when a woman could detect if she was pregnant or not.

I’m not trained medically so I don’t know the proper medical terminology and timelines. But from what I’ve read, what I’ve been told, there’s some period of time before you can know a woman is pregnant.

Chambliss is said to have used this argument to claim that a woman could still have an abortion under the bill as long as she did not know about the pregnancy, which confused many who heard the statement.

Chambliss went on to say that life must be protected in any scenario even if it's "origins are in very difficult situations."

A life is a life and even if it's origins are in very difficult situations, that life is still precious.

Life is a gift of our creator and we must do everything that we can to protect life.

Chambliss's comments on this issue have drawn the ire of many on Twitter who have lambasted his 'pro-life' approach especially when Alabama still has the death penalty.

More: Man destroys anti-abortion argument with a simple question​