This is not a joke. I repeat, this is not a joke. And this politician is not a character from Welcome Back, Kotter, either.
In another sick attempt to block a woman from having the right to choose, a Republican state legislator Vito Barbieri actually asked if a remote gynecological exam could be performed if a woman swallowed a camera. Me thinks he's not sure where the vagina is.
An Idaho lawmaker received a brief lesson on female anatomy after asking if a woman can swallow a small camera for doctors to conduct a remote gynecological exam.
The question Monday from Republican state Rep. Vito Barbieri came as the House State Affairs Committee heard nearly three hours of testimony on a bill that would ban doctors from prescribing abortion-inducing medication through telemedicine.
Dr. Julie Madsen was testifying in opposition to the bill when Barbieri asked the question. Madsen replied that would be impossible because swallowed pills do not end up in the vagina.
"Fascinating. That makes sense," Barbieri said, amid the crowd's laughter.
The committee approved the bill 13-4 on a party-line vote, where it now goes to the House floor for a full vote. Barbieri, who sits on the board of a crisis pregnancy center in northern Idaho, voted in favor of the legislation.
Under HB154, abortion-inducing medication could not be administered through telemedicine —which does not currently happen in Idaho— and requires doctors to make "all reasonable efforts" to schedule a follow-up visit. The bill is backed by the anti-abortion group Idaho Choose Life.
