Democratic senator laughs off abortion question, calls it 'stupid'

Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala) laughed off a question about an abortion restrictions on Wednesday and derided it as "stupid."

According to Yellowhammer News, the exchange took place between the Democratic senator and an election tracker who is also a constituent.

During the recorded exchange, the constituent begins by asking Jones "Do you think abortion should be banned after five months?" as the senator is walking away from a black SUV.

Apparently not hearing to the initial question, the senator greets the constituent by asking, "What stupid question do you have for me today?"

After the constituent repeats the question, Jones responds with a laugh.

"Should abortion be banned after," the senator chuckled as he repeated the first half of the question, "as I said, what a stupid question."

In response to the jocular dismissal, the questioner said, "You're voting on it next week, sir."

The comment was in reference to the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.

"Yeah, and I'll vote on it next week," Jones responded while walking away, "just like I did the last time."

That "last time" Jones was referring to happened in late January 2018, when the Senate last voted on a pain-capable bill. It would have imposed a federal ban on abortions conducted after 20 weeks of pregnancy, when proponents of such legislation say that unborn children can feel pain. Jones voted against the measure.

Last week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell set up votes for the pain-capable legislation along with an anti-infanticide measure that would mandate medical care for the born-alive survivors of botched abortions, for a vote after this week's congressional recess. Last year, Jones was one of only three upper chamber Democrats who crossed the aisle to vote in favor of a born-alive bill in the Senate.

The short, 17-second video clip probably won't do Jones any favors in his upcoming re-election bid in the state, which passed a law banning nearly all abortions in the state last year. He was elected in a 2017 Alabama special Senate election that was thrown into chaos by sexual misconduct allegations against the Republican nominee, Roy Moore. He is now widely viewed as the upper chamber's most vulnerable incumbent in November's general election.