'Vagina' Is Too Lewd for Michigan State Republicans

Someone uttered the horribly offensive, borderline criminal V-word during a Michigan House of Representatives debate over an abortion bill. Which is to say, a woman said "vagina," and now male Republicans are mad about it.

Someone uttered the horribly offensive, borderline criminal V-word during a Michigan House of Representatives debate over an abortion bill. Which is to say, a woman said "vagina," and now Republicans are mad about it.

During a debate over a package of abortion regulation bills, state Rep. Lisa Brown finished her remarks against the bills with, "Finally, Mr. Speaker, I'm flattered that you're all so interested in my vagina, but 'no' means 'no.'" The quote doesn't seem wildly out of line. It's reasoning we've come to expect from pro-choice lawmakers and advocates, but in Michigan it shocks and offends.

On Thursday, Brown and another female member of the House were blocked from participating in a House debate over an education bill because of remarks they made during the abortion debate. Rep. Mike Callton was offened by Brown's choice of language. "What she said was offensive," he said. "It was so offensive, I don't even want to say it in front of women. I would not say that in mixed company."

Brown, thankfully, responded beautifully. First, she pointed out that vagina is the "medically correct term" to use when referring to a woman's, ahem, down there. Brown also took a wild leap in logic, asking, "If I can't say the word vagina, why are we legislating vaginas?" Then she asked the question we're wondering ourselves: "What language should I use?" What does Mike Callton say when he has to refer to a vagina?

Here's a video, via Talking Points Memo, of Brown's remarks:

[The image for this was taken from this Youtube video of Rep. Brown's remarks.]