A House Judiciary Committee hearing about Texas' controversial abortion law grew contentious on Thursday as opponents of the law clashed with Republicans on the panel, Fox News reports.
Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., repeatedly pushed Stephanie Loraine Piñeiro, the co-executive director of Florida Access Network, and Texas OB-GYN Dr. Ghazaleh Moayedi, to say if abortion is killing or murder.
Piñeiro said, "I'm deeply offended that you would call me a murderer" after Johnson asked if her organization would be OK with killing a 10-year-old.
He asked Moayedi, "Does abortion kill something that's alive — take the life of something that's alive?"
Both abortion access advocates objected to Johnson's questioning, with Moayedi saying, "Sir, the way that you're asking these questions actually intentionally invite[s] violence and harassment to both of us — to all of us."
The congressman then asked, "When you dismember something in the womb, is that a human being or not? It's a living being, yes or no?"
Moayedi said that she was testifying about medical care, and added, "What you are discussing is not the reality of how abortion care is delivered in this country."
She told Texas Democrat Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee during the hearing that she faces regular harassment and stalking from "violent people" due to her job.
"I don't have to imagine what it's like to have violent people stalking me, because that is actually my life every single day as an abortion provider in Texas. I am followed into my job. I am screamed at. My child is screamed at by people that purport to love children.
"I get hate messages and death threats to my home simply for caring for my community," she said. "It's very disturbing for me personally to hear people claim to be pro-life while they actively threaten my life and my child's life."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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