‘My Name Is Dr. Robinson’: Witness Responds to Chip Roy Calling Her ‘Miss’ During Hearing, Gets Talked Over When She Responds to Abortion Question

The House Judiciary Committee convened on Wednesday to hear testimony about abortion rights in light of the Supreme Court’s pending decision that could overturn Roe v. Wade, which established a constitutional right to abortion in 1973.

There were a few testy exchanges between Republican lawmakers and pro-choice witnesses that had been called by Democrats on the committee. One particularly notable exchange came when Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) questioned Dr. Yashica Robinson, an influential physician and abortion provider.

After querying one witness, Roy turned to Robinson.

“I would move to one other question here. Ms. Robinson–” he said, before being interrupted by the previous witness.

“Can I finish my answer though, about Texas?”

“I didn’t ask you a question about that,” he shot back, and turned to Robinson. “Ms. Robinson, I’m gonna ask you a question. When is the latest you have performed an abortion in terms of weeks of the unborn child?”

Robinson paused and leaned forward.

“Yes, my name is Dr. Robinson and I provide abortion care in Alabama,” she responded. “So Alabama has–”

“What is the answer to the question,” he said. “The latest that you have performed an abortion?”

“I’m gonna answer your question,” she explained.

Robinson stated that Alabama, where she practices, restricts abortion access.

“In other words, you’d like to do it later,” Roy said. “What is the latest you’ve performed an abortion?”

“So since I always follow the law and I live in the state of Alabama, I provide abortion care up to until 20 weeks’ gestational age,” she answered.

“Ok, so you performed an abortion at 20 weeks,” he said.

“Yes, sir.”

Roy then asked for the details about whether extracting a fetus entails pullings arms and legs out of the womb.

Robinson pushed back.

“One of the things that you all have done throughout this hearing is just use inflammatory language as you talk about the care that we provide,” she protested.

“It’s a simple question,” Roy retorted. “Have you had human parts, baby parts – arms, legs – as a result of an abortion performed at the time you just acknowledged you performed an abortion up to 20 weeks.”

Robinson responded by saying, “I am a proud abortion provider. There is nothing that you can say that makes it difficult for me to talk about the care that I provide.”

Watch above via C-SPAN.