Abortion medicine doctor tells Republican congresswoman she ‘can’t see’ aborting a child halfway down the birth canal

An abortion worker pushed back on questions from a Republican congressman when asked if she would ever abort a fetus halfway through the birth canal.

The questioning came during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on how abortion rights are being threatened. The hearing came after Politico reported a leaked draft Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that enshrined women’s right to abortion.

Representative Mike Johnson of Louisiana asked Dr. Yashica Robinson, an obstetrician-gynecologist from Huntsville, Alabama, on whether she supports a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy just seconds away from having a healthy child.

“I think the question you’re asking doesn’t realistically reflect abortion care,” she said.

“In this scenario, would you support the right to abort this child,” she said, prompting Dr. Robinson said she would not engage in theories.

“It’s not a theory, ma’am. You’re a doctor,’ said Mr Johnson. He went on to ask if a child would support the right to an abortion if it was halfway out of the birth canal.

“I can’t imagine that,” she said.

“I’m not asking if you can fathom it,” he said. “If it happened, would you support this abortion or not. That’s unrestricted abortion, right?”

dr Robinson again said she couldn’t imagine it. “Just like you probably can’t imagine what you would do if your daughter was raped,” she said.

Senate Democrats failed to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act last week after it was passed by the House of Representatives last year. Republicans have said the law goes beyond the protections codified in Roe v Wade but, Mr Johnson claimed, would result in “unrestricted abortion”.