Moms who have experienced a miscarriage are speaking out after Pennsylvania State Representative Wendy Ullman was caught on video calling early miscarriage "just some mess on a napkin."
Ullman made the comment during an October 29 hearing on Pennsylvania House Bill 1890, which would require healthcare facilities to bury or cremate the remains of fetuses that died via abortion or miscarriage.
"I think we all understand the concept of the loss of a fetus, but we're also talking about a woman who comes into a facility and is having cramps and, not to be concrete, but an early miscarriage is just some mess on a napkin," said Ullman, a Democrat who represents a suburban area north of Philadelphia. "And I'm not sure people would agree that this is something that we want to take to the point of ritual — either cremation or internment."
After video of the hearing began to circulate on social media, moms and dads who have experienced miscarriage began to share their painful experiences.
"I've had two miscarriages and this is the coldest, most disgusting thing I've ever heard come out of the mouth of another female," wrote one Twitter user. "She should be ashamed."
"Holy. F---. No. No it is not, Wendy Ullman. Please go back to the hole you crawled out of. This is so dismissive of the pain many women experience and not pro-woman at all. #Iam1in4," wrote another.
One dad shared, "That mess in a napkin is the reason why neither me or my son's mother got to enjoy any of his pregnancy. Every day for ten months was dealing with the stress of possibly having to tell our families for a second time that she had a miscarriage."
In the days following her comments, Ullman issued an apology on Twitter, saying, "This issue is intensely important to me, and that’s why I struggled for words. My words were poorly chosen, and I apologize."
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