Anti-Abortion Lawmaker Clearly Doesn't Understand Female Anatomy

During a debate over an anti-abortion bill, a Republican lawmaker in Idaho asked Monday whether women can just swallow a tiny camera in order to conduct a gynecological exam remotely with a doctor.

According to the Associated Press, Idaho Rep. Vito Barbieri (R) posed the bizarre question to Dr. Julie Madsen, who was testifying against a bill that would ban doctors from prescribing medication abortion via webcam unless they have examined the woman in person. Madsen had to explain to Barbieri that swallowed items, like pills, do not land in the vagina.

The Idaho House State Affairs Committee advanced the "Physician Physical Presence and Women Protection Act" by a party-line vote of 13 to 4. Proponents of the bill said making medication abortion more difficult to access would give women more time to change their minds about having an abortion, while opponents said the bill would only interfere with the doctor-patient relationship.

Barbieri wasn't immediately available to clarify how a camera could make the journey he described.