Sensing an opportunity to push for near-total abortion bans following the passage of an Alabama bill, a coalition of anti-abortion rights groups released a letter Wednesday urging Republicans to "reconsider decades-old talking points" on exceptions to such laws, NPR reports.

"Issues like rape and incest are difficult topics to tackle; nevertheless... the value of human life is not determined by the circumstances of one's conception or birth," said the letter, which is addressed to Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel.

"A child conceived in rape is still a child. We don't blame children for other matters outside their control. Why should we do so here?"

The letter praises Alabama’s law, which completely forbids abortion unless a woman's life is threatened and which would jail doctors convicted of violating the law for up to 99 years.

Kristan Hawkins, president of Students For Life, which is spearheading the campaign, said she wants more Republicans to support abortion bans that do not include exceptions for rape and incest, saying “it's time to start having the conversation. There is a fear in the Republican Party about talking about rape at all... But I don't think it's something we should be afraid of."

The effort to push stricter abortion laws is at odds with statements in recent days by several leading Republicans, including President Donald Trump and McDaniel.

McDaniel told CNN the Alabama legislation went too far, saying it should have included exceptions for rape and incest.

This is a position that many leading Republicans have historically taken, and Florida State University Law Prof. Mary Ziegler told NPR that abandoning that position "would mark a major shift," adding, "we are seeing a major bid for strategic power being made by absolutists."