U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) this week said states that want to enact pro-life policies, including Mississippi, are on the same level morally as states that legalized slavery more than 160 years ago.

Cohen made his remarks on the floor of the U.S. House. He referred to Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case that recently went before the U.S. Supreme Court. The pending case pertains to the constitutionality of a Mississippi law that banned abortions after the first 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Cohen said the case threatens abortion access throughout the country.

“Women have a right to choose. It is a personal right and it’s enshrined in Roe v. Wade. Roe v. Wade was approved by the Supreme Court when I was in law school. The right of a woman to choose is a part of my political DNA. I hope it never changes,” Cohen said.

“One of the justices asked one of the attorneys addressing the court ‘Why don’t we just leave it to the states?’ One of the last times Mississippi and its Confederate states — all of whom have typical abortion laws that would go into effect if Roe v. Wade was outlawed — was to leave it to the states on slavery. That was wrong then, and it’s wrong now. Women have a right to choose.”

In September, Cohen demanded U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer resign so that President Joe Biden could replace him while Democrats still have a majority in the U.S. Senate. Cohen also said it’s time to expand the number of people on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Cohen last year said that African-American Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) “might as well be” white and ridiculed the death of former presidential candidate Herman Cain. Cohen also endorsed a video of actor Robert De Niro bragging he wants to punch Trump in the face.

Cohen bashed MyPillow, Inc. CEO Mike Lindell as just some guy who “makes pillows” and kisses Trump’s posterior. This, after Lindell appeared alongside Trump at a press conference and announced his company would manufacture COVID-19 face masks for hospitals across the country.

Cohen also expressed delight over the Democrat-controlled U.S. House of Representatives no longer requiring people to say “so help me God” under oath. He also used a rape analogy to describe Trump’s time as president.

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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].