Listen: Idaho Republican Believes A Woman’s Stomach And Vagina Are Connected

A conservative Idaho Republican lawmaker had to be educated by a medical doctor during a hearing on an anti-abortion bill.

Until Monday, Vito Barbieri was apparently under the mistaken belief that a woman’s stomach and vagina were connected. The 63-year old Idaho State Representative and attorney was questioning a physician about the use of cameras in colonoscopies during a hearing for an anti-abortion bill.

“You mention the risk of colonoscopy,” Barbieri said, questioning Dr. Julie Madsen. “Can that be done by drugs?”

“It can not be done by drugs,” Dr. Madsen replied. “It can, however, be done remotely, where you swallow a pill, and this pill has a little camera and it makes its way through your intestines, and those images are uploaded to a doctor who’s often thousands of miles away who then interprets that.”

“Can this same procedure be done in a pregnancy — swallowing a camera and helping the doctor determine what the situation is with the child?” Barbieri asked.

“It cannot be done in pregnancy simply because, when you swallow a pill, it would not end up in the vagina,” the doctor answered, eliciting laughter from the chamber.

“Fascinating,” Barbieri concluded. “That certainly makes sense, doctor.”

The legislation Barbieri is pushing, HB154, prohibits physicians from administering abortion-inducing medication via telemedicine in an attempt to reduce access to abortion services.

Barbieri sits on the board of a crisis pregnancy center, so presumably he might have motivation to see this bill pass. 

Planned Parenthood issued a statement in response to Barbieri’s question.

“Today’s comments demonstrate exactly why politicians should not be in the business of making medical decisions. In Idaho and across the country, women deserve the freedom and privacy to make the private decisions that are best for themselves and their families. We already knew that these politicians are only interested in restricting access to essential medical services, and after today we can confirm they don’t even have the most basic knowledge of the human body to have an informed opinion.”

In response to the tremendous outburst Monday – which included coverage on the Rachel Maddow Show – in response to his embarrassing lack of understanding of the human anatomy, Rep. Barbieri said he “was being rhetorical.”

Listen:

 

Image via Facebook
Audio and transcript via Raw Story