Can Men Get Pregnant?

Senator Josh Hawley asked Dr. Nisha Verma a straightforward question during a Wednesday Senate hearing. The answer required one word. Either yes or no. Instead, he spent the next five minutes avoiding a simple yes or no.

"Can men get pregnant?" he asked.

Verma, an obstetrician-gynecologist and fellow with Physicians for Reproductive Health, testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on January 14 during a hearing titled "Protecting Women: Exposing the Dangers of Chemical Abortion Drugs." The Missouri Republican wanted a simple response. He got corporate speak instead.

The first time she said, "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 many identities."

The second time, she said, "Again, the reason why I paused there. I'm not really sure what the goal of the question is."

The third time, she said," I take care of people with many identities."

Hawley clarified. The goal was truth. Biological reality. Science over politics. Verma had testified moments earlier that evidence should control medical decisions, not politics. He wanted to test that claim.

The fourth response from the doctor was, "Again, as I'm saying," Verma repeated, pivoting away from the question like a politician dodging a scandal. "I also think yes or no questions are a political tool."

Hawley pushed back. Yes-or-no questions concern truth, he said. The Supreme Court had just heard arguments the previous day on cases involving biological sex differences in athletics.

Senator Ashley Moody of Florida had initially posed the question. Hawley picked up where Moody left off, determined to extract a direct answer from the medical professional who claimed to follow science.

"Based on the science, can men get pregnant?" Hawley asked. "That's a yes or no question. It really is, I think."

Verma accused him of reducing complexity. She wanted a conversation, not polarization. Hawley reminded her that this was a hearing about science and women's safety, specifically regarding abortion drugs that cause adverse health events in 11% of cases, according to research cited during testimony.

The back-and-forth continued for several excruciating minutes. Verma could not, or would not, answer the question.

"For the record, it's women who get pregnant, not men," Hawley stated. "We are here about the safety of women and science that shows that this abortion drug causes adverse health events in 11% of cases. That's 22 times greater than the FDA label. Another fact you haven't acknowledged. And yet you won't even acknowledge the basic reality. Do you think that men can get pregnant?"

Verma persisted by saying that she was a person of science. She said she was someone representing complex patient experiences.

Hawley delivered the conclusion.

"Your refusal to recognize women as women and men as men is deeply corrosive to science, to public trust, and yes, to constitutional protections for women as women," Hawley said.

The exchange exploded across social media. The viral moment encapsulated broader cultural battles over language, biology, and ideology in medical care.

Verma practices at Emory Healthcare in Atlanta. She's board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology and complex family planning. Her medical credentials are legitimate. But credentials don't substitute for candor when she stumbles on a simple biology question.

The hearing focused on mifepristone safety and FDA oversight of chemical abortion drugs. Witnesses debated telehealth prescriptions, mail-order access, and adverse event reporting. Republicans argued for tightened restrictions. Democrats defended existing protocols. Committee Chair Bill Cassidy, a physician himself, framed the discussion around women's safety.

Verma's refusal to acknowledge basic biology undermined her credibility on the very issues she came to address. If a medical expert can't state that biological males don't get pregnant, why should lawmakers trust her assessment of drug safety data?

Biological males lack a uterus, ovaries, and fallopian tubes. Pregnancy requires these structures. Only a person, specifically a woman, who was born with these reproductive organs can get pregnant.

A simple "no" would have ended the exchange in seconds. Instead, she prioritized ideological language over biology. In a hearing specifically about protecting women's health, she couldn't point out that only biological women can get pregnant.

@Santitos

@salinasmariasantos

Copyright © 2026 Maria Santos Salinas for FRONTeras.

All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Sharing the original posts or links from FRONTeras on social media is allowed and appreciated.