Yesterday’s Congressional hearing on a bill to prevent race-based and sex-based abortions was often tense, with abortion advocates decrying the legislation as racist. But according to the Chairman of the House’s Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, “abortions are targeting unborn children for simply being the ‘wrong color’ or the wrong sex” in the United States.

The hearing focused on the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA), a bill that would criminalize aborting children due to their race or sex. According to Franks, the bill would leave the women getting the abortions blameless, but hold abortionists accountable.

Both Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) said the problem is real, and in a report issued shortly before the hearing, witness Anna Higgins of the Charlotte Lozier Institute said that “the practice of sex-selective abortion is prevalent across cultures and nations, including the United States.”

A press statement released by Goodlatte said, “My hope is that we may work together today to end such practices” in America.

Democratic witness Miriam Yeung, who represented the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, said PRENDA is “racist” and that “the decision to seek abortion care should be up to a woman, her doctor, and her family, and not politicians.”

Democrats said the bill had what Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) called “racist and xenophobic justification.”

“Bans like the one in PRENDA fuel negative stereotypes against Asian American women, and adversely affect women of color who already face disproportionate barriers to healthcare,” said Chu in a statement handed to press.

Chu’s statement did not address whether the Congresswoman believes sex-selective and race-based abortions happen in America. Her office did not respond to The Stream’s query on the matter.

Likewise, the office of House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers (D-MI) did not respond to The Stream’s question about whether Conyers believes it is acceptable for abortions to be based on the race or sex of the child.

In his statement at the hearing, Conyers said PRENDA is “patently unconstitutional because it bans certain, pretty viable abortions.”

Catherine Davis of the National Black Pro-Life Coalition said Planned Parenthood targets black Americans, who have approximately one-third of the nation’s abortions but are only 13 percent of the U.S. population.

Davis’ colleague, Rev. Dean Nelson, told The Stream that “PRENDA is about protecting children.”

“Our culture condemns discrimination towards women and minorities,” continued Nelson. “Our society should be outraged to know that the abortion industry as well as sick individuals continue to use abortion as a means of population control. I have heard for myself the testimonies of abortionist justifying killing ‘ugly black babies’ as well as victims who have been forced into abortions because the father of the child was black. This must stop.”

This is the second time the House has addressed PRENDA. Four years ago, after being introduced under suspension of normal voting rules, the bill failed to meet the necessary two-thirds margin in the House of Representatives.