Witness calls Josh Hawley ‘transphobic’ during Senate hearing about abortion rights
U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley on Tuesday was accused of being transphobic during a Senate committee hearing after he drew attention to a witness’ use of the phrase “people with a capacity for pregnancy.”
The exchange came in a hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee focusing on the legal consequences of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned the federal right to an abortion.
In the aftermath of the decision, some activists in the abortion rights movement have urged advocates to use inclusive language when talking about abortion, as transgender men and nonbinary people are also capable of becoming pregnant and having children.
Conservatives, like Hawley, have seized on the language as part of a larger push against transgender rights, claiming that it erases women from the conversation. In the hearing, Hawley attempted to draw attention to the fact that the witness was using the phrase as a way of challenging whether she believed abortion was a women’s rights issue.
“You’ve referred to people with a capacity for pregnancy,” Hawley asked Khiara Bridges, a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley. “Would that be women?”
“Many women, cis women, have the capacity for pregnancy,” Bridges responded. “Many cis women do not have the capacity for pregnancy. There are also trans men who are capable of pregnancy as well as nonbinary people who are capable of pregnancy.”
Cisgender, often shortened to cis, is the term used for people whose gender identity aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth.
As Hawley continued to push Bridges on the topic, she accused him of attempting to deny the existence of transgender men.
“I want to recognize that your line of questioning is transphobic and it opens up trans people to violence by not recognizing them,” Bridges said.
“Wow, you’re saying that I’m opening people to violence by asking whether or not women are the folks who can have pregnancies?” Hawley responded.
Later in the exchange, he said he did not believe that men could get pregnant.
The exchange is part of a larger effort by conservatives to use transgender rights as a political wedge issue. Across the country, lawmakers have proposed and passed legislation that attempts to limit transgender people’s access to healthcare and their access to bathrooms or sports that match their gender identity.
Immediately after the hearing, Hawley and his staff boosted a video of the exchange on Twitter.
“The Democrats say what they really think: men can get pregnant and if you disagree, you are “transphobic” and responsible for violence,” Hawley wrote on Twitter.
Bridges, during the hearing, cited statistics that show one in five transgender people have attempted suicide. She said Hawley’s line of questioning contributes to violence against transgender people.
After arguing with Bridges, Hawley shifted his focus to Heidi Matzke, who is executive director of Alternatives Pregnancy Center in California, to criticize Senate Democrats for arguing against centers that attempt to urge people seeking an abortion to go through with their pregnancy.
The hearing also featured testimony from Colleen McNicholas, the chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, who said Missouri’s abortion ban created an unnecessary hurdle for doctors.
Hawley, who believes abortion should be allowed in cases of rape, incest and to protect the life of the mother, has said he supports Missouri’s abortion ban, which only allows the procedure in the event of a medical emergency.
The Kansas City Star’s Kacen Bayless contributed reporting to this article
This story was originally published July 12, 2022 at 1:15 PM with the headline "Witness calls Josh Hawley ‘transphobic’ during Senate hearing about abortion rights."
