During a Texas Senate Health and Human Services Committee hearing, a state Senator broke the glass of a table while banging his gavel in order to stop a NARAL intern from giving her testimony against one of the state’s many controversial abortion bills.
NARAL’s legislative intern, Maggie Hennessy, spoke about the dangers a bill like Senate Bill 415 could have on women’s health. The bill targets dilation and evacuation or D&E abortions, which are the safest and most common form of second-trimester abortions. The language in the bill is loaded and uses the word “dismemberment” instead of the medical terms used in previous legislation.
Hennessy argued on the Senate floor, “This bill is full of false, medically inaccurate, ideological language designed to further stigmatize and shame women receiving abortion care,” saying, “It’s an outright ban on the safest abortion method for some patients. In order to obtain care that is not banned by this bill, women would be forced to undergo an additional, invasive and unnecessary medical procedure, even against the medical judgment of their physician.”
After going over her time limit a bit, Hennessy began wrapping up her speech and was abruptly interrupted by Sen. Schwertner banging his gavel so hard that he broke the glass on the table.
We couldn’t find a more obvious sign of Republicans disregarding women’s rights than a Senator breaking a glass table while fighting against women’s reproductive health. We weren’t the only ones to pick up on this — Twitter took notice, too:
To watch the full hearing, click here.
Top photo via TwitterAlexa Garcia-Ditta
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