A California congresswoman implied on the floor of the House of Representatives Wednesday that her male Republican colleagues fighting infanticide are simply disgruntled about their sex life.
“It is tiring to hear from so many sex-starved males on this floor talk about a woman’s right to choose,” Rep. Norma Torres said during a hearing about federal spending.
The unnecessary comments prompted grumbles throughout the chamber, as well as a response from Congressman Rob Woodall, of Georgia.
“I would just like to ask my friend if she’d like to change her last statement,” Woodall said.
“If it pleases my colleague on the other side, I will withdraw my statement about sex starved males on the floor,” Torres said.
The speaker ultimately removed the comments from the record, but it sparked outrage from many by clearly violating House rules that prohibit members from personally impugning their colleagues, Roll Call reports.
By allowing Torres to rephrase, Woodall saved the congresswoman from being called out of order by Republicans, which could have resulted in a day of silence as a consequence, according to the Congressional Research Service.
Torres, a freshman elected in 2018 who serves on the House Rules Committee with Woodall, rephrased her remarks, though the sentiment was the same.
“I will put it in different terms,” she said. “It is tiring to be here on this floor or in committee as a woman to continue to be counseled about what types of affordable planning, um uh, feminine – whether it is family planning, uh, conversations that rightfully I deserve to have with my own doctor, choosing when women want to have a family, and to avoid pregnancies before they become pregnancies.
“It is unfortunate that that is something that continues to be denied to American women day in and day out on this floor,” Torres said.
The comments perpetuate the well-worn abortion trope that decisions about child birth are solely between a woman and her doctor, a notion that, ironically, pro-choice advocates have worked hard to dispel, Fox News reports.
To the men of America: It’s time for us to stand up & #StopTheBans. It is time to recognize that women’s reproductive rights are about all our rights & health care. #MenForChoice must join together w/women to make sure these human rights are protected once & for all. pic.twitter.com/5cZoaQQjHV
— Richard Blumenthal (@SenBlumenthal) June 5, 2019
“To the men of America: It’s time for us to stand up & #StopTheBans. It is time to recognize that women’s reproductive rights are about all our rights & health care. #MenForChoice must join together w/women to make sure these human rights are protected once & for all,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal posted to Twitter last week, along with advertisement for “Men For Choice.”
Apparently, the same logic doesn’t apply to “sex-starved” males fighting for the rights of men and women marked for death by their mothers.
Torres’ insult came amid a debate on considering amendments to a nearly $1 trillion appropriations package that includes funding for several departments including Defense, Health and Human Services, State-Foreign operations and Energy-Water, according to Roll Call.
Torres’ shocking statement followed remarks from Rep. Ross Spano, of Florida, who took issue language in the Democrat-authored legislation that would block the Trump administration from protecting health care providers that refuse to provide abortions or requiring Title X grant recipients to separate abortion facilities physically and financially from other services.
“The legislation before us not only strips pro-life provisions, but it includes language that, in fact, undermines efforts to promote life,” Spano said.
Leave a Comment
COMMENTS POLICY: We have no tolerance for messages of violence, racism, vulgarity, obscenity or other such discourteous behavior. Thank you for contributing to a respectful and useful online dialogue.