Missouri Senator Josh Hawley ignited a firestorm with transgender and LGBTQ activists on Capitol Hill after repeatedly pressing a medical witness with a basic biological question during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing this week: can men get pregnant?
The exchange unfolded as Dr. Nisha Verma, a Democratic witness and senior advisor to Physicians for Reproductive Health, testified before lawmakers in Congress on abortion access and reproductive health policy. Verma acknowledged that she regularly cares for pregnant women in her medical practice, but declined to directly state whether men are capable of becoming pregnant, choosing instead to offer carefully worded responses that avoided a clear answer.
SPOILER ALERT: Men cannot get pregnant pic.twitter.com/08JwHUlxIj
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) January 14, 2026
As Josh Hawley pressed her on the point, Verma openly admitted she was hesitant to answer the question directly. “I hesitated there because I wasn’t sure where the conversation was going or what the goal was. I mean, I do take care of patients with different identities. I take care of many women,” she told Hawley, skirting around the senator’s straightforward question about whether men can get pregnant.
Hawley shot back by clarifying exactly what he was trying to establish. “The goal is to establish a biological reality,” Hawley replied. “You just said a moment ago that science and evidence should control, not politics. So let’s just test that proposition.”
After further back-and-forth, Verma continued to avoid a direct answer. “I do treat people that don’t identify as women,” she said. “I think yes-no questions like this are a political tool.” She then accused Hawley of attempting to oversimplify what she described as a complex topic and characterized his questioning as “polarized.”
As the exchange dragged on without a clear answer, Hawley eventually answered the question himself. “For the record, it’s women who get pregnant, not men,” the Missouri Republican said. “I don’t know how we can take you seriously and your claims to be a person of science if you won’t level on this basic issue.”
Rather than answering yes or no, Dr. Verma again responded that “transgender men can become pregnant,” reframing the question around gender identity rather than biological sex. Josh Hawley immediately followed up by emphasizing the distinction between identity and biological function, noting that pregnancy requires female reproductive organs such as ovaries and a uterus — organs biological males do not possess.
When Senator Josh Hawley asked a doctor if men can get pregnant, she COULDN’T ANSWER.
It’s frightening that this is where we’re at in America…pic.twitter.com/g6YCIqAOKX
— Chad Prather (@WatchChad) January 14, 2026
The exchange continued for several minutes, with Josh Hawley repeating the question more than ten times, according to hearing transcripts. Each time, Dr. Nisha Verma declined to state that biological males cannot become pregnant, instead returning to language centered on identity rather than reproductive anatomy.
The moment overshadowed broader testimony during the hearing and quickly spread online, drawing national attention. Hawley argued that lawmakers cannot responsibly craft healthcare and abortion policy if expert witnesses refuse to acknowledge basic biological definitions that underpin medical law, insurance regulations, and federal statutes.
The hearing took place against the backdrop of ongoing tension between pro-life groups and the Donald Trump administration over abortion medication policy. Last October, the Food and Drug Administration approved a generic version of mifepristone, one of two drugs used in a medication abortion regimen.
Pro-life organizations have pushed for more rigorous study of mifepristone’s safety profile, citing reports of rare but serious complications associated with its use. Pro-choice advocates counter that mifepristone has been deemed safe through dozens of studies and has been widely prescribed for years.
As debate over abortion policy, medical authority, and biological definitions continues, the exchange between Senator Josh Hawley exchange Dr. Nisha Verma has become a flashpoint — highlighting how questions of science and cultural ideology collide in congressional hearings shaping national policy.
