AP Photo/Matt Rourke
- Pennsylvania's Republican House leadership cut the microphone of a state Democrat on Wednesday.
- Rep. Brian Sims, a Democrat from Philadelphia, had noted the GOP delegation "is 100% white."
- Sims accused the Pennsylvania GOP of pursuing a "grossly, predictably misogynistic agenda."
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
A Pennsylvania Democrat had his speech cut short on Wednesday after he noted the state's Republican lawmakers are "100% white."
The heated moment came during a debate over a Republican proposal to regulate the disposal of fetal remains, one that Democratic lawmakers argued would force women to bury or cremate a miscarried fetus. As USA Today reported, a number of Democratic women spoke against the measure – which Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf has promised to veto – by highlighting their own traumatic experiences with miscarriages.
Rep. Brian Sims, a Democrat from Philadelphia, lamented the fact his colleagues were forced to share such testimony in the state's Republican-controlled House.
"This is just another act in a political theater that has plagued this chamber for far too long," Sims said. "We are a legislature that has met more to remove mask mandates, strip executive emergency powers, and overturn free and fair elections than we have to make strategic investments in Pennsylvania's women, children, and families."
-J.J. Abbott (@jjabbott) June 9, 2021
Sims punctuated his remarks with an attack on his Republican colleagues and the demographic makeup of their caucus. The bill, he argued, was just another line item in "a grossly, predictably misogynistic agenda – an agenda pursued by a party that is 100% white, in a chamber that is 70% male."
House Majority Leader Bryan Cutler, a Republican, then cut Sims' microphone. "That's enough," he said amid booing from other GOP lawmakers.
Sims was unrepentant.
"Your boos mean nothing to me," he said. "I've seen what you cheer for."