Sen. Mazie Hirono (D., Hawaii) told a crowd of protesters in front of the Supreme Court on Tuesday that she informed a group of eighth graders at a public school in Hawaii that "we have to fight for abortion rights."
"I asked the girls in that group of eighth graders, 'How many of you girls think that government should be telling us women and if we should be having babies?' Not a single one of them raised their hands," Hirono said.
Hirono also said she lectured the boys present at the public school gathering.
"To the boys who were there, among the 60, I said, 'You know, it's kind of hard for a woman to get pregnant without you guys.' They got it," she said. "'How many of you boys think government should be telling girls and women when if we're going to be having babies?' And not a single one of them raised their hands."
Here is @maziehirono at the #StopTheBans rally, saying she just told a bunch of 8th grade girls that their abortion rights are under attack. pic.twitter.com/PoaLWD1BaU
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) May 21, 2019
Hirono has been a strident advocate of abortion in the Senate, advocating for religious tests on judiciary appointments as well as opposing a bill that would protect survivors of botched abortions from infanticide.
"I hope supporters of the bills that we're talking about today, both in the states and in Congress, turn their efforts to improving the lives of the children who are very much here already and who are so poorly served by the Trump administration and its policies," Hirono said in opposition to Sen. Ben Sasse's (R., Neb.) Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act in February.
Hirono called the bill, which sought to require doctors to care for survivors of abortion, a "solution in search of a problem" and a "threat to women's reproductive health." Hirono called for doctors and mothers should make a private decision over whether infants on the table should live or die.
In January, the Senate rebuked Hirono (D., Hawaii), along with Sen. Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) for asking a judicial nominee to quit the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic group which opposes abortion.