Sen. Barbara Boxer (D., Calif.) sharply told off a Republican man Monday after he relayed a pro-life message with an anecdote about a premature baby that's now healthy, saying "I just don't like lectures by men" about the experience of pregnancy.
During the Planned Parenthood defunding debate on the Senate floor in the wake of undercover videos showing its officials discussing fetal organ harvesting, Sen. James Lankford (R., Okla.) spoke about a friend of his whose wife gave birth to a "very, very premature" baby that weighed in at just 14 ounces.
"Their child is now 14 pounds a year later and doing extremely well," he said. "That 14-ounce child is a child that everyone sees now, but that 14-ounce child is exactly what Planned Parenthood was harvesting, was turning in the womb so they could crush the head to be able to grab the organs to be able to sell. We, as a culture, have got to deal with this one simple reality. That child is important."
Soon after, Lankford offered to surrender the floor to Boxer, who quickly went after his gender as she cited her experience giving birth to two premature children of her own.
"I want to thank my friend for his generosity here, and I tell you, I'd really rather work with you on transportation," she said. "You know, I gave birth to two premature kids and I just don't like lectures by men about what it's like. And thank God, they made it."
Boxer grew increasingly heated, banging her podium for emphasis.
"I'm pro-choice, and I just have to say using pregnancy as a political football doesn't sit well with the people I represent and the people of this country," she said. "We have to respect one another. I respect your view entirely. I'm asking you to respect mine. Keep Uncle Sam out of my private life and my children's and my grandkid's and yours! Families will make these decisions with their god, with their doctor."
Democrats successfully blocked the Republican effort to strip Planned Parenthood, the country's largest abortion provider, of federal funding Monday. The procedural vote only got 53 votes, short of the 60 necessary to overcome a filibuster.