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A House Judiciary hearing was held last week to discuss the issue of abortion rights, so naturally a Republican Congressman seized it as an opportunity to change the subject and attack transgender people.
During the testimony of Dr. Yashica Robinson of the organization Physicians for Reproductive Health, North Carolina Republican Representative Dan Bishop attempted to derail the discussion by asking Robinson to define what a "woman" is.
But Robinson was having none of it, using the moment to educate Bishop on gender issues, to his visible dismay.
See their exchange below.
Rep. Dan Bishop to Dr. Yashica Robinson: "You're a medical doctor. What's a woman?"
"I'm a woman," she replies. pic.twitter.com/KEH4ngYijk
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 18, 2022
The hearing was held to discuss the potential impacts of the Supreme Court's expected overturn of Roe v. Wadenext month in its decision on the Mississippi abortion-rights case Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health
Dr. Robinson is an abortion provider in the state of Alabama who was called to testify as an expert on the issue. But per the Republican Party's current grievances and obsessions, all Bishop wanted to talk about was pronouns and gender.
Attempting to "gotcha" the doctor, Bishop asked:
“In your written testimony, I noticed you said that you use she/her pronouns. You’re a medical doctor. What’s a woman?”
Robinson refused to take the bait. While Bishop repeatedly interrupted her to ask her what a woman is, Robinson instead educated him on the matter.
"I think it’s important that we educate people like you about why we’re doing the things that we do."
"So the reason I use she and her pronouns is because I understand that there are people who become pregnant that may not identify that way and I think it is discriminatory to speak to people or to call them in such a way as they desire not to be called."
"It’s important that we respect each individual person."
Bishop hated that answer, of course, and asked Robinson one more time to define what a woman is. She responded simply, "I’m a woman."
Bishop immediately shot back a snide question about whether that was "as comprehensive of a definition" as Robinson can give, and she was ready for him. She pointedly replied:
"That’s as comprehensive of a definition as I will give you today because I think that it’s important that we focus on what we’re here for, and it’s to talk about access to abortion."
On Twitter, people applauded Robinson for the way she dispatched with Bishop's bad-faith interrogation.
The incredible dignity and patience of Dr Robinson in the face of the disrespect she received from these mouth-breathing Republican men is truly something.https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1526985642051264513\u00a0\u2026— Laura Chapin (@Laura Chapin) 1652908141
This is how you fight back against these bad faith trolling tactics. Dr. Yashica Robinson is a boss.https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1526985642051264513\u00a0\u2026— Alejandra Caraballo \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf7 (@Alejandra Caraballo \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf7) 1652901657
On why she identifies her pronouns, \u201cI think it\u2019s important to educate people like you\u2026.\u201dhttps://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1526985642051264513\u00a0\u2026— Sherrilyn Ifill (@Sherrilyn Ifill) 1652900962
She rocks #DrYashicaRobinsonhttps://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1526985642051264513\u00a0\u2026— The Recyclifier (@The Recyclifier) 1652936400
A woman is a human being endowed with an alienable rights including the right to bodily autonomy and the question suggests that humans need to be categorized to accommodate a caste system that holds that certain people are entitled to fewer rights— Marissa (@Marissa) 1652901909
Dr. Yashica Robinson is such a wonderful breath of fresh air!https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1526985642051264513\u00a0\u2026— Depends on my mood@\ud83d\ude37\ud83d\udc99\u270c\ud83e\udec2\ud83d\ude4f (@Depends on my mood@\ud83d\ude37\ud83d\udc99\u270c\ud83e\udec2\ud83d\ude4f) 1652965464
Dr. Yashica Robinson is a flat out HEROINE. A model for courage and calm, science over sensationalism.https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1526985642051264513\u00a0\u2026— @JaneWaverly (@@JaneWaverly) 1652914758
i don\u2019t understand why it\u2019s only the word woman they do all this forhttps://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1526985642051264513\u00a0\u2026— \u2754 (@\u2754) 1652919293
He's a rude bigoted fearful fool, afraid to allow her to fully respond w/out interrupting & belittling her. Nasty he/him person. \nDr Yashica Robinsin is AWESOME in her calm & humane responsehttps://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1526985642051264513\u00a0\u2026— Kat (@Kat) 1652903112
"I think it's important to educate people like you why it is we're doing the things we do. It's discriminatory to call people in a way they do not want to be called." \n\n*mic drop*https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1526985642051264513\u00a0\u2026— UltraViolet has the #ReproReceipts (@UltraViolet has the #ReproReceipts) 1652903438
Now that is how you handle a bad-faith argument.