Send the GOP 'back to elementary school': Dem lays into 'stupid' colleagues

Days after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos can be classified as human beings — threatening the future of in vitro fertilization treatments across the state — GOP lawmakers are scrambling to mitigate outrage from both Democrats and Republicans.

The New York Times reported, "The court’s ruling, handed down by an 8-to-1 majority, applies only to three couples who were suing a fertility clinic over the accidental destruction of their embryos. But its wording — paired with a fiery opinion from the chief justice encouraging lawmakers to push its scope further — has left many wondering about the possible wider implications for people seeking IVF treatment."

Following the controversial decision, some GOP lawmakers, like U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), are struggling to even define IVF.

READ MORE: Senate GOP campaign memo: 'Imperative' to 'clearly and concisely reject' Alabama IVF ruling

"I was all for it," the Alabama senator said of the high court's ruling. However, when pressed further by a reporter, Tuberville said, "I’d have to look at the entire bill, how it’s written, I have not seen it."

During Sunday's episode of MSNBC’s Velshi, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) slammed Republican lawmakers like Tuberville who support legislation they don't seem to understand.

"I guess the issue here is even some Republicans and conservatives seem confused by this IVF stuff," host Ali Velshi said. "They're not understanding, 'wait a second, we want people to have babies, then we don't want them to have babies, but then we can't really give them contraception, and they have to be nearly dead to have an exception to the abortion laws.' Except, as we learned, in Texas, even if you're nearly dead, and your doctor says you are entitled to an abortion, you actually still can't get one."

Crockett replied, "Yeah. You're being so kind by calling them confused. They are not confused. They're just stupid. They don't know what they're doing, and this is why they need to stay in their lanes, right?

“We're not doctors. And we should allow doctors to be the ones to tell us what we should and should not allow. This is a science thing. I know that they are trying to rid this country of science, and rid this country of history, and all the very basic things. They obviously struggle with math as well.

“Listen, we need to send the Republicans back to elementary school so that they can get the basics, and understand what it is that we should be relying upon. Including our doctors. Our doctors that are telling us, 'Listen, these policies will kill women. Listen, these policies will disallow those that actually want to bring children into this world from being able to do so.'

“And this idea of trying to define personhood before someone has actually entered the world is absolutely insane to me.”

READ MORE: Democrats discredit GOP claims on IVF as Republicans try to regain ground after fallout

The Texas Democrat continued, "I saw on social media just the other day that somebody said, 'The reason that we don't call IVF — we don't look at that and say, 'these are children,' is because what is the last time you could put a child in the freezer and they actually live?' Right? That's not what you do. You keep them in the freezer.

“So this is the idea, that we're going to ignore the experts. That's why we're struggling with climate change. That's why we're struggling with repro[ductive rights]. That's why we're struggling in general in this country. And it's time to get back on track. It's time to listen to the experts instead of listening to those that I would consider to be ignorant."