I haven’t seen the video, so I’m not sure how much “yelling” was going on. I would also like to see what shenanigans led up to this altercation.
But in a similar situation, I would have been willing, in a calm voice, to tell the UI Planned Parenthood supporters that a) abortion is murder and b) selling baby parts is evil beyond the pale.
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A Republican Idaho state senator yelled “abortion is murder” at a group of students who were pushing for birth control legislation at the Statehouse and now faces an ethics complaint after a post from an unverified Twitter account told them to discuss “killing babies” with a Democratic lawmaker.
Sen. Dan Foreman told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he has no plans to apologize and denied any ties to the social media account that purported to belong to him.
“I think the response was dead on and people can take exception to that — they’re welcome to their point of view — but I take abortion seriously. It’s murder,” Foreman said.
Senate President Pro Tem Brent Hill, who led a “respectful workplace training” event for all lawmakers in January, apologized for the way the students were treated and said Foreman’s behavior reflects on the Legislature.
“I told him it wasn’t an appropriate response; we need to conduct ourselves with much more dignity, civility and respect,” said Hill, a Republican. “I think he understands that I’m not very happy with how he conducted himself.”
About a dozen University of Idaho students from Foreman’s district in the city of Moscow had traveled nearly 300 miles (483 kilometers) for a scheduled meeting with him Monday. They planned to lobby for a Planned Parenthood-backed measure in the conservative state that would allow women to receive up to a 12-month supply of prescribed birth control and would promote better sex education on college campuses.
Foreman abruptly canceled the meeting, and the students left a note and condoms in his office before heading to other meetings with lawmakers. He later passed the students in the hallway, and several recorded him shouting, “Abortion is murder.”
“I’m a Roman Catholic and a conservative Republican. I think what you guys are doing stinks,” Foreman says on the video.