A GOP senator likened 'pre-born' human beings to sea turtle eggs while arguing against a Democrat-led abortion rights bill

• A GOP senator likened fetuses to sea turtle eggs while arguing against an abortion rights bill.
• Sen. Steve Daines questioned why the US has laws to protect turtle eggs but not "pre-born" humans.

Montana Republican Sen. Steve Daines on Tuesday compared fetuses with sea turtle eggs while arguing against an effort by Democrats to codify Roe v. Wade.

"Why do we have laws in place that protect the eggs of a sea turtle or the eggs of eagles? Because when you destroy an egg, you're killing a pre-born baby sea turtle or a pre-born baby eagle," said Daines, while speaking against the bill on the Senate floor.

"Yet when it comes to a pre-born human baby, rather than a sea turtle, that baby would be stripped of all protections in all 50 states under the Democrats' bill we'll be voting on tomorrow," he added. "Is that the America that the left wants?"

Daines made his speech while standing next to a poster displaying sea turtles and a row of babies. He later tweeted an image of the poster while also claiming, without evidence, that an "unhatched sea turtle would have more protections than an unborn human baby" should Roe v. Wade be codified into law.

—Steve Daines (@SteveDaines) May 10, 2022

Daines was slammed for his comments over social media, with many users taking offense at his comparison and questions posed.

"Among other things, because sea turtles and eagles don't have constitutional rights as equal citizens of the United States," tweeted Democratic strategist Emmy Bengtson. "But hey, apparently women don't either."

The Senate is slated to vote on Wednesday on a bill that, if passed, would codify abortion rights in federal law. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer set the vote after a leaked Supreme Court majority opinion signaled that the court was poised to overturn the landmark 1973 case that set the legal precedent for abortion rights.