(CN) - An Idaho lawmaker got an anatomy lesson Monday when he asked a doctor if a woman could swallow a camera to conduct a remote gynecological exam. State Rep. Vito Barbieri posed the question during testimony to the House State Affairs Committee. The bill at issue, HB 154, would bar doctors from prescribing abortion-inducing drugs through telemedicine services.
Planned Parenthood posted an audiotape of the exchange on the Internet.
Dr. Julie Madsen, who provides telemedicine services in Idaho, described a procedure in which colonoscopy patients swallow a device that gives doctors a clearer view of parts of the colon.
"Can this same procedure then be done in a pregnancy? Swallowing a camera and helping the doctor determine what the situation is?" Barbieri asked.
Madsen replied: "Mr. Chairman and representative, it cannot be done in pregnancy simply because when you swallow a pill it does not end up in the vagina."
As laughter broke out in the room, Barbieri said: "Fascinating. That makes sense."
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