A Republican legislator made a speech on the Missouri Senate floor saying having an abortion at the St. Louis Zoo would be the same as going to a clinic, according to news reports.

According to Broadly, Missouri State Sen. Bob Onder had opposed a tax increase that would benefit the St. Louis Zoo partially because the city proposed a bill that would outlaw employers and landlords from discriminating against women who have had an abortion, use contraception, or are pregnant. On top of that, Broadly points out a bill that would bolster the rights of crisis pregnancy centers in St. Louis, centers that provide misleading information about reproductive health, had been filibustered by Democrats. After all that, Onder and Sen. Wayne Wallingford made a joke of reproductive health in front of the state Legislature.

After Wallingford suggested women should go to the zoo to get an abortion "because we know it'll be safer" (abortions are actually one of the safest medical procedures), Onder furthered his colleague's comments, comparing abortions to euthanizing zoo animals.

"Let’s think about this," Onder said, referencing the state law that requires a three-day waiting period before an abortion. "Babies, it’s three days, so although there are members of this body who don’t agree with that three days, babies are three days. So, zoo animals, it couldn’t be more than 24 hours, right?" He then explained that the waiting period for euthanizing zoo animals is five days. "I believe there's some sort of requirement to notify in case some other zoo wants to adopt that animal," he said, reportedly laughing. "Isn't that interesting?"

Missouri currently has only one abortion clinic left in the state, something director Tracy Droz Tragos highlighted in her documentary, Abortion: Stories Women Tell. The film sheds light on the challenges women face to get an abortion, often traveling across state lines to get to a clinic, and it shows the women who are more toward Onder's side of the issue and oppose abortion. The film, Tragos told Teen Vogue, is meant to be a snapshot of the climate surrounding abortion, as told by the women it impacts on all sides of the issue. But the film also shows just how hard it can be to get an abortion in Missouri, even though the procedure is a safe, legally protected healthcare right.

Comparing women who seek abortions to zoo animals may continue that cultural standpoint that makes it harder for women to access abortion, also furthering the stigma that makes so many think abortion is a shameful thing we should hide, when really it's just another part of reproductive health.

Related: A Federal Judge Blocked One of Mike Pence's Abortion Restrictions in Indiana