Louisiana Republican: My 40-Year-Old Daughters Still ‘Get In My Lap’ When Sad

Louisiana state Rep. Larry Bagley (R) invoked his grown daughters in the oddest way possible while voting to advance an anti-abortion access bill on Wednesday. The bill would allow patients to bring cell phones into abortion clinics, something advocates say could lead to harassment, doxxing and spamming by anti-abortion groups.

During a meeting of the Louisiana House Health and Welfare Committee, Bagley acknowledged that there was only one congresswoman present. “As a predominately male group, it’s hard for us to understand what a woman goes through for an abortion,” he said, according to The Gambit.

It seems like a good start toward listening to abortion providers and patients—but instead, Bagley chose to go completely off the rails.

Per The Gambit:

Bagley preceded to imagine a hypothetical in which his daughters would want to call him if they ever were to get an abortion. “They’re in their 40s, and they’ll get in my lap now if they’re upset,” he said.

Excuse me? What?

I would very much like it if conservative dad politicians would leave their daughters out of abortion debates in general—but especially if said daughters are climbing into their laps. In fact, they should just stop mentioning their daughters altogether. It’s not going well for them.

Do you remember Robert “RJ” Regan, the Michigan statehouse candidate who said he would tell his daughters to “lie back and enjoy” rape? Not only did he lose, but his daughter has told people to not vote for him. Do you remember when Brett Kavanaugh told the world that his 10-year-old daughter said we should pray for Dr. Christine Blasey Ford after her testimony? Remember when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell invoked his daughters to show just how gross he thought Donald Trump’s Access Hollywood remarks were?

Stop bringing up your daughters—no matter their age—as props to show that you care about women. I have a new rule: If you can’t stand behind your shitty opinions without having a daughter card on deck, you don’t get to voice said shitty opinions!

Anyway, this bill passed the committee 11-2 and heads to the Louisiana state House floor. It’s very possible none of this even fucking matters, because if the leaked Supreme Court opinion becomes finalized as is, abortion will be illegal in Louisiana thanks to guys like this.