During a Congressional hearing Wednesday, the board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist and medical school professor declined to directly answer Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), who repeatedly asked him whether men can get pregnant.

Dr. Nisha VermaThe woman, an obstetrician-gynecologist representing reproductive health physicians, declined to answer “yes” or “no” to a question first posed by Sen. Ashley Moody (R-Fla.) and again posed by Hawley. This is because I did not understand the “purpose” behind the question.

“I care for patients with a variety of identities,” Verma told Holly.

“I take care of a lot of women; I take care of people like: different identities. That’s when I stopped. ”

Hawley said the “purpose” of the question was “just the truth” and “establishing a biological reality.”

Verma said she treats patients who “do not identify as women” and that asking “yes or no” questions is a “political tool.” Mr Verma accused Mr Hawley of reducing the “complexity” of the issue.

“It’s not complicated,” Hawley said. “I’m trying to find an answer, and frankly, as a medical professional, as a scientist, I’m testing your veracity: Can men get pregnant?”

The two went back and forth until Verma called Hawley’s style of questioning “polarizing and intrusive.”

In response, Hawley pointed out that the entire purpose of the hearing was centered on the safety of abortion pills for women, the only sex that can become pregnant. Hawley said Verma’s failure to recognize this biological reality raises questions about whether she and other medical experts who advocate the safety of abortion pills can be trusted.

“There’s a difference between biological men and biological women,” Hawley says. “But if you don’t agree with me on this fundamental issue, I don’t know how I can take you seriously and your claims to being a scientist.”

Verma again condemned the use of “polarizing language”.

“I’m a science person, and I’m also a person here to represent the complex experiences of patients. I don’t think polarizing language, language, questions serve that purpose. I don’t think they serve Americans,” Verma said before being interrupted by Hawley.

“It’s not polarizing to say that women are a biological reality and should be treated and protected as such. That’s not polarizing. That’s the truth,” Hawley said.

Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing on medical abortion bill supreme court delivered oral argument in two cases centering on state laws that prohibit biological boys who identify as female from participating in women’s sports. Supporters of the ban argue that restrictions on transgender athletes competing against women are based on biological differences between the sexes, with men having a physiological advantage over female athletes.