Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono issues 'literally a call to arms' against pro-life movement

Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii said she was issuing "literally a call to arms" against the pro-life movement in a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday.

“When I hear my colleagues talking about how, you know, it should be states’ rights, or government should not be telling us what to do, the word ‘hypocrites,’ it doesn’t even go far enough to call them out on what they’re doing,” said Hirono during her speech. “This is an outright attack on women in this country. That is how I see it.”

Democrats were outraged when Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina introduced legislation that would ban abortions beyond the 15-week threshold. The bill excludes pregnancies that are the result of rape or incest and medical emergencies that threaten the life of the mother.

Hirono ended her speech with the odd call to arms.

“Madam president, I yield the floor, but clearly, you know, this is a — literally call to arms in our country, I yield the floor,” she concluded.

Many on social media took the comments to mean that Hirono was encouraging violence against those who oppose abortion rights in the country. Despite President Joe Biden claiming that he would work to unite Americans, dozens of attacks on pro-life centers and churches have been documented since the overturn of Roe v. Wade.

A poll in July found that about half of Americans said abortions should be allowed through the first 15 weeks of a pregnancy.

Hirono appeared to double down on the comments by tweeting a video of the "call to arms" from her official account.

"This is not some sort of hypothetical debate," she wrote in the tweet. "The stakes have never been this high, Democrats have to hold the Senate this November."

Here's the video of her comments: