Actress and talk show host Busy Philipps found herself in the middle of a contentious exchange with GOP Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) during Tuesday’s House hearing on abortion.
The former Busy Tonight host, who launched the pro-abortion #YouKnowMe campaign, appeared on Capitol Hill to testify against the pro-life movement sweeping the states.
“No bill that criminalizes abortion will stop any woman from making this incredibly painful decision,” Philipps, who got an abortion at 15, stated. “These bans will not stop abortion from happening, but they will drive women, and girls, and people into the shadows, which is what this has always been about: shaming and controlling women’s bodies.”
“If I were that same 15-year-old in Arizona [today] legally I would have to get parental consent,” she continued.
“I would be forced to give the state a reason why. Well, here is mine: It is my body, not the state’s. Women and their doctors are the ones that are in the best position to make informed decisions about what is best for them, no one else,” the Cougar Town actress added.
The hearing took an interesting turn after the Texas lawmaker’s turn for questioning came around. Gohmert asked Philipps if a baby who survives an abortion has the right to live. His question was a nod to abortion survivor and Abortion Survivors Network founder Melissa Ohden, who testified before Philipps. Gohmert’s question is one virtually all pro-choice Democrats — Philipps included — struggle to answer.
“Would you agree that somebody who has survived an abortion has a right when she’s born to life, to control over her body where someone else doesn’t take her life?” Gohmert asked.
“Although I played a doctor on television, sir, I am actually not a physician,” Philipps replied.
“But you’ve given very compelling testimony, and you’ve obviously given these issues a lot of thought,” Gohmert said.
Busy Philipps failed to answer the question directly, instead repeating the Democrat Party’s cliché mantra.
“I don’t believe that a politician’s place is to decide what’s best for a woman. It’s a choice between a woman and her doctor,” she said.
“What about a baby and their doctor? That’s my question” Gohmert pressed.
Busy Philipps refused to answer the question directly.
“Again, I can’t speak to her experience because I was not there and so I do not,” Philipps began before Gohmert cut her off.
“Well I just wondered how far your feeling about that went, because once she’s born, would you agree that she is a person in being?” he asked.
“I’m not speaking about birth, sir, I’m speaking about abortion,” Philipps answered.
Philipps’ inability to provide clear and concise answers, particularly on the left’s more “extreme” pro-abortion views, does not come as a shock. Prominent Democrat presidential candidates have struggled to condemn late-term abortion altogether.
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