Congressman Gill corners 'reproductive rights' expert on her favorite abortion method during hearing: 'It's barbaric and evil'

Republican Rep. Brandon Gill turned a congressional hearing into one of the most robust exchanges in recent memory on Capitol Hill on Thursday. Questioning Jessica Waters, a law professor at American University, an expert on "reproductive rights" and an invited witness for the Democrats, Gill read aloud, in great detail and without mincing words, descriptions of four abortion procedures and asked her, one by one, which was her favorite.

Waters did not answer any of Gill's questions and tried to deflect the subject on several occasions.

Gill kicked off the questioning with a direct question: "What's your favorite type of abortion?" Waters dodged the answer by defining herself as "an advocate for patients having access to the full realm of reproductive health care." The congressman wasn't satisfied with that and began describing the proceedings.

Gill began with suction abortion: "This is when the cervix is dilated and a strong suction, 29 times the power of a household vacuum cleaner, tears the baby's body apart and sucks it through the hose into a container." He then described dilation and curettage: "After dilation of the cervix, a sharp-looped knife is inserted into the uterus. The baby's body is cut into pieces and extracted, often by suction." After that, he detailed dilation and evacuation: "Forceps are inserted into the uterus, grabbing and twisting the baby's body to dismember him or her. If the head is too large, it must be crushed in order to remove it." And finally, he addressed the saline injection: "The baby's skin is burned off. The baby ingests the solution and dies of salt poisoning, dehydration, and hemorrhaging of the brain."

To each description the congressman read, Waters reacted with visible discomfort and repeated that she preferred to talk about the FACE Act. At each dodgy query, Gill further cornered the "reproductive rights" expert.

"Is it because it's uncomfortable to talk about?" he asked her after the third procedure. "Yes," Waters said. "It is… because it's barbaric and evil," Gill replied.

At the end of the exchange, the Republican congressman, who received praise for the questioning, closed with a shattering sentence: "I wouldn't want to talk about this either if I were you, because it is barbaric and evil." 

The hearing was convened by the House Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government and was held to examine a Department of Justice report detailing how the Biden administration collaborated with pro-abortion groups and used the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, known as the FACE Act, to persecute and imprison pro-life activists.