A Republican Idaho senator who yelled “abortion is murder” at students who were advocating for birth control legislation at the Statehouse is now facing an ethics complaint following a tweet from an unverified Twitter account that told the students to discuss “killing babies” with a Democratic lawmaker, according to a report from The New York Post.
The dozen University of Idaho students who traveled almost 300 miles to meet with Sen. Dan Foreman weren’t even there to talk to him about abortion at all. Their scheduled meeting with him Monday was for lobbying for a Planned Parenthood-supported concept that would allow women to receive up to a 12-month supply of birth control and would advocate for better sex education on college campuses. Part way through, Foreman canceled the meeting abruptly and stormed out. The students left condoms and a note on his desk before moving on to speak with other lawmakers. When he passed them in the hallways again, a number of students got him on video yelling that “abortion is murder.”
They also recorded him saying, “I’m a Roman Catholic and a conservative republican. I think what you guys are doing stinks.”
Later on Monday, a tweet from an unverified Twitter account claimed someone in the group had a “wild outburst” and told them to “go talk about killing babies with Maryanne Jordan,” a Democratic senator.
Senate President Pro Tem Brent Hill, a Republican, apologized for the way the students were treated and said Foreman’s behavior reflects poorly on the Legislature. “I told him it wasn’t an appropriate response; we need to conduct ourselves with much more dignity, civility and respect,” said Hill. “I think he understands that I’m not very happy with how he conducted himself.”
Paul Dillon, public affairs director of Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho, called Foreman’s actions and behavior “completely unhinged” and said his words to the students made him “a bully.”
The tweet didn’t go unnoticed by Sen. Maryanne Jordan, and it in fact prompted her to file an ethics complaint against Foreman. She called his behavior “beneath the Idaho Senate.” There are few details about the complaint, as they’re usually done anonymously.
Update: Twitter account widely believed to be Sen. Foreman’s disappeared, returned briefly to say it was a parody, and disappeared again https://t.co/4WRVeeViVr
— Idaho Statesman (@IdahoStatesman) February 20, 2018
Foreman shows no sign of regretting that encounter. He told the Associated Press on Tuesday that he has no plans to apologize. He also denied any connections to the now-deleted Twitter account that made the tweet. This isn’t the first time Foreman’s behavior has caused some kind of upset.
He stormed out of a meeting earlier this year when he wasn’t allowed to debate an item that was not on the agenda. He came straight out of the gate being controversial, in fact, as he proposed legislation during his first legislative session that would classify abortion as first-degree murder for both the woman and the doctor, shocking both Republicans and Democrats. That particular measure never got a hearing, but he’s trying to put stronger anti-abortion laws into place this year through a ballot initiative.
Someone also clearly forgot to tell this man that he does not have any kind of say in what women can and cannot do with their bodies.