‘Can men get pregnant?’, Josh Hawley grills abortion advisor in Senate

An Indian-American obstetrics-gynaecology and reproductive health advisor refused to give a clear, “yes or no” answer to Republican Senator Josh Hawley, who posed the question during a HELP Committee hearing titled Protecting Women: Exposing the Dangers of Chemical Abortion Drugs, “can men get pregnant?” The question was asked to Dr Nisha Verma on Wednesday (January 14).

‘Abortion medications proved safe’

Dr Verma while testifying before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said that medications used for abortions have been proven to be safe in a large number of high-quality peer-reviewed studies and warned that if politically motivated restrictions are imposed, they will lead to adverse outcomes.

"Medication abortion has been rigorously studied and proven safe and effective in over 100 high-quality peer-reviewed studies," she told the committee, adding that over 7.5 million people in the United States have used the drugs since their approval in 2000, reported NDTV.

‘Goal of establishing a biological reality’: Hawley

However, Hawley persisted with his question "Can men get pregnant?" to which Dr Verma, who appeared as a Democratic witness, responded, saying "I do take care of people that don't identify as women.”

But Hawley insisted on a direct response, saying, "The goal is to establish a biological reality. This is about science and evidence. I'm asking you. This is not a hypothetical question."

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"Science and evidence should guide medicine. But I also think yes or no questions like this are political tools,” responded Dr Verma addin,g "I'm trying to reduce the complexity of the question." However, Hawley insisted that the question is about truth and biological reality.

Senator seeks evidence-based answer

"You are called by the other sites as an expert, and you are a doctor, and you follow the science and evidence. Just want to know based on the evidence. Can men get pregnant? That's a yes or no question," Hawley said.

"I'm not. I'm trying to get to an answer. I'm trying to test, frankly, your veracity as a medical professional and scientist, can men get pregnant?" he added.

Senator questions credentials

However, Dr Verma responded saying that although she would be happy to engage with the Senator, but when “that is not coming from the place of trying to be polarised."

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The Republican Senator, however, questioned her credentials as a person of science due to her refusal to give a direct answer to his question.

"It is not polarising to say that women are a biological reality and should be treated and protected as such; that is not polarising. That is truth...Your refusal to recognise men as men and women as women is deeply corrosive to science, public trust, and constitutional protection for women as women,” said Hawley.