Recently, a clip of Senator Josh Hawley has been circulating widely. In it, he questions a medical expert during a Senate hearing with a seemingly simple question: "Can men get pregnant?"
When the expert attempts to explain the nuance of gender and biology, Hawley pushes for a binary "yes or no" answer. He frames the issue as a rejection of "basic biological reality." This moment is frequently used by conservative commentators to mock transgender identity and portray advocates as "anti-science."
Here is how we can effectively answer this "gotcha" question and expose the fundamental flaw in conservative logic.
The Dialogue: How to Dismantle the Trap
The best way to win this argument is to force the questioner to be precise with their language. Here is how the conversation should go:
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The Question: "Can men get pregnant?"
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The Accurate Response: "Yes, transgender men can get pregnant."
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The Conservative Pivot: "We are talking about BIOLOGICAL men only!"
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The Rebuttal: "If by 'biological' you mean cisgender men (those assigned male at birth), then no. But if you mean 'Men' as a gender, then yes. Transgender men are men, and many have the biological capacity (a uterus) to carry a child. You are trying to use 'biology' to erase a person's identity, but science recognizes that reproductive anatomy and gender identity are two different biological realities."
The Lesson
Senator Hawley and his peers rely on the public’s confusion between Sex and Gender. They treat the word "man" as if its meaning was frozen in the 7th century, but that is not how modern medicine or science works.
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Traditional View: Confuses biological equipment with personal identity.
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Scientific View: Recognizes that while reproductive functions are biological, "Manhood" is a social and psychological identity.
By refusing to acknowledge this distinction, conservatives are not "defending science." Instead, they are trying to weaponize language to erase the existence of transgender people.
A Request for Honest Discourse
Mr. Hawley, before asking "gotcha" questions, you must learn the difference between a traditional dictionary definition and a clinical scientific definition. We request that you stop burying a delicate human issue in political theater. Human lives and mental health are at stake. Once you make the distinction between sex and gender, the "confusion" disappears. We are not denying biology; we are being precise about it.
Hassan Radwan