Christian televangelist Pat Robertson became an unexpected opponent of Alabama's new abortion law that bans nearly all abortions in the state, calling the measure "extreme."

Republican Gov. Kay Ivey signed into law Wednesday a bill that bans abortions except in the cases where one is required to save the mother. It does not have any exceptions for rape and incest. The law takes effect in six months.

"I think Alabama has gone too far," Robertson said on "The 700 Club." "It's an extreme law, and they want to challenge Roe vs. Wade, but my humble view is that this is not the case we want to bring to the Supreme Court because I think this one will lose.



"The Alabama case, God bless them, they're trying to do something, but I don't think that's the case that I'd want to bring to the Supreme Court," Robertson reiterated later.

The bill's sponsor, state Rep. Terri Collins, made it clear that the purpose of the bill was not so much about Alabama as it is about making an impact before the Supreme Court. Collins personally said she has empathy toward rape and incest survivors, but the national goal of the law led her to pursue something more strict.

"[Rape and incest] could be an exception in state law. But what I'm trying to do here is get this case in front of the Supreme Court so Roe v. Wade can be overturned," Collins said, according to The Washington Post.

In addition to criticizing the inflexibility of the bill, opponents point to the severe punishments for physicians who perform abortions. A person who performs an abortion could be sentenced to up to 99 years in prison. Mothers who receive abortions could not be prosecuted.