Kamala Harris Compares Alabama Abortion Law To The Handmaids Tale

To Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), the truth out of Alabama seems stranger than fiction. 

In response to the state’s Senate passing the country’s strictest abortion bill  on Tuesday, Harris sent a fundraising email in which she asked people to organizations that provide money for abortion service and fight for reproductive rights — rather than her own campaign. She also compared the bill to the Margaret Atwood novel and Hulu series “The Handmaid’s Tale ,” in which fertile women are enslaved, raped and forced to birth babies for childless couples. 

“This isn’t a scene from The Handmaid’s Tale,” Harris wrote Wednesday. “This is happening in Alabama — in our country — in the year 2019.”

The senator criticized state lawmakers who voted to pass the Human Life Protection Act, which, if signed in to law, would make performing an abortion at any stage of pregnancy a felony offense. The only exception is if the pregnancy threatens the life of the pregnant woman. Doctors could be sentenced to up to 99 years in prison  if they performed the procedure.  

“This is a blatant attack on Roe v. Wade,” Harris said in her email. “It is a direct attack on women across our country. Restricting access to safe, legal abortion puts women’s lives at risk.”

People on Twitter also compared the measure to the dystopian novel, and “The Handmaid’s Tale” began to trend on the social media platform on Wednesday. Check out their responses below.