Idaho lawmakers were debating a bill that ban doctors from prescribing emergency contraceptives during telemedicine consults (via private video chats, particularly helpful for those in rural areas), when they had a surprising question from
Republican Rep. Vito Barbieri:
An Idaho lawmaker received a brief lesson on female anatomy after asking if a woman can swallow a small camera for doctors to conduct a remote gynecological exam.
.......
Dr. Julie Madsen was testifying in opposition to the bill when Barbieri asked the question. Madsen replied that would be impossible because swallowed pills do not end up in the vagina.
Apparently having absolutely no idea how the human body works, Rep. Barbieri and 12 others voted along party lines to advance the bill for a vote. Rep. Barbieri has previously sponsored bills to prevent doctors from distributing
emergency contraceptives in 2013:
The Idaho House on Wednesday voted 38-32 to reject an amendment that would have prohibited health plans offered in a state-based health insurance exchange from covering emergency contraception, the AP/Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
The amendment -- sponsored by Rep. Vito Barbieri (R) -- would have altered Gov. C.L. Otter's (R) exchange proposal to ban participating private health plans from covering the drugs Plan B and ella.
Barbieri incorrectly suggested that such drugs could cause an abortion. He argued that an Idaho law forbidding health plans in the exchange from offering abortion coverage was inadequate.
Rep. Vito Barbieri is a
busy man–he sits on the board of the Open Arms Pregnancy Care Center and Real Choices Clinic (a "pregnancy crisis center"), owns a Vapit! electronic cigarette store
and a catering business.
And, he has opinions:
Barbieri opposes abortion, believes illegal aliens should be deported and U.S. troops should be stationed at the southern border, and he is very concerned about Agenda 21.
Agenda 21 is a non-binding, voluntarily implemented action plan of the United Nations with regard to sustainable development.
He supports parents homeschooling their kids or sending them to private school, and believes public schools are an important place in educating the secular in our society."Public schools have chosen to exclude the Bible, prayer, and even the Ten Commandments," he says on his website. "This, by definition, has created a godless institution by which our culture suffers."He says he also opposes any increase in taxation at any level.