During the House hearing over the controversial Texas abortion law, two advocates continued to decline Rep. Mike Johnson’s questions about the procedure.
Stephanie Loraine Piñeiro, the co-executive director of Florida Access Network, and Texas OB-GYN Dr. Ghazaleh Moayedi were both asked by Rep. Johnson about whether abortion ended a human life.
Piñeiro repeatedly dodged Johnson’s questions. He asked “is it ok to murder a 10-year-old child?”, to which Piñeiro responded “no one should be forced to remain pregnant if they don’t want to”.
When Johnson repeated his question, Piñeiro said “I’m deeply offended that you would call me a murderer”.
After a few minutes, Johnson asked what the distinction is between taking the life of a small child outside the womb versus inside the womb. Piñeiro responded “I don’t understand the question”.
“Does abortion take the life of something that’s alive?” Johnson said before moving onto Dr. Ghazaleh Moayedi. “Does abortion kill something that’s alive – take the life of something that’s alive?” he asked Moayedi. The doctor completely ignored the question and said “Sir, the way that you’re asking these questions actually intentionally invite[s] violence and harassment to both of us – to all of us”.
Johnson said the response was “absurd” and continued to press his question. “What you are discussing is not the reality of how abortion care is delivered in this country,” Moayedi claimed.
“You know, if we were in a court room, I would say that that’s nonresponsive,” Johnson responded.
The House Judiciary Committee was reviewing Texas’ abortion ban, which prohibits the procedure after a heartbeat is detected.