During the hearing, professor Khiara Bridges used the phrase “people with a capacity for pregnancy,” which is considered a gender-neutral term that encompasses everyone who is able to get pregnant, including transgender men and nonbinary individuals.

Her use of the phrase got pushback from Hawley, a Missouri Republican. “You used a phrase several times—I want to make sure I understand what you mean by it. You’ve referred to people with a capacity for pregnancy. Would that be women?” he asked.

Bridges replied, “Many women, cis women have the capacity for pregnancy. Many cis women do not have the capacity for pregnancy. There are also trans men who are capable of pregnancy, as well as nonbinary people who are capable of pregnancy.”

The debate over gender-inclusive terminology has become heated in recent weeks after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. As supporters of LGBTQ rights push for more inclusive language surrounding pregnancy, others have argued that terms such as “people with a capacity for pregnancy” slight women. In any case, there have been many instances of transgender men or nonbinary individuals—none of whom are women—becoming pregnant.

During Tuesday’s Senate hearing, Hawley said the issue of reproductive rights “isn’t really a women’s rights issue.” Bridges responded, “We can recognize that this impacts women while also recognizing that it impacts other groups. Those things are not mutually exclusive.”

She added, “I want to recognize that your line of questioning is transphobic, and it opens up trans people to violence by not recognizing that.”

The debate between the two trended on Twitter Tuesday afternoon, with a clip of the hearing viewed more than 250,000 times.

Hawley responded to the criticism on Twitter, writing: “The Democrats say what they really think: men can get pregnant and if you disagree, you are “transphobic” and responsible for violence. For today’s left, disagreement with them = violence. So you must not disagree.”

Bridges accused Hawley, who said he does not believe men can get pregnant, of denying the existence of transgender people. She said doing so contributes to the high rates of suicide within the transgender community.

“Is this how you run your classroom?” the senator asked. “Are students allowed to question you, or are they also treated like this, where they are told that they’re opening up people to violence by questioning?”

Bridges replied, “Absolutely they’re allowed to question. We have a good time in our class. You should join. You might learn a lot.”

Bridges received support from Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, on Twitter.

The congresswoman wrote: “Thank you for your service, Professor Bridges. Also lol @ Hawley’s feigned shock at the recognition that he incites violence. The man raised a fist w/ Jan 6th-ers who yelled “Hang Mike Pence” & fundraised off it. Now he wants to be all “Me?? Opening people to violence??”

Reached by Newsweek for comment Tuesday afternoon, Hawley’s office referred to his tweet.