In an impassioned video for the science news site Big Think, Bill Nye the Science Guy got very real with politicians trying to pass anti-abortion legislation.
"If you're going to say when an egg is fertilized, it therefore has the same rights as an individual, then whom are you going to sue? Whom are you going to imprison?" Nye says passionately at the beginning of the video.
"Every woman who's had a fertilized egg pass through her? Every guy whose sperm has fertilized an egg and then it didn't become a human? If all these people failed you? It's just a reflection of a deep scientific lack of understanding."
The laws Nye is speaking of have been the topic of much conversation over the past few weeks. During September's Republican debates, presidential candidates urged fellow Republicans to do everything in their power to defund Planned Parenthood, some going as far as encouraging a government shutdown.
On Friday, Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner resigned from his position, largely because more conservative members of his party felt he was not doing enough to defund Planned Parenthood.
In Big Think's video, which currently has over 400,000 views on multiple platforms, Nye addresses the belief — held by many conservative politicians — that abortion is murder and that abortion providers are criminals.
"I understand that you have deeply held beliefs," Nye said later in the video. "And it really is ultimately out of respect for people, in this case your perception of unborn people. But I really encourage you to look at the facts."
Nye goes on to say that cutting off women's access to safe abortions – which would be one of the results should Planned Parenthood be defunded – has never been a successful way to lower the abortion rate in the past.
His statements are based on historical and scientific research from organizations such as the Guttmacher Institute that show that restrictions on abortions are much more likely to cause women to seek out illegal and unsafe ways to terminate pregnancy rather than choose not to terminate it.
"I really encourage you to not tell women what to do and not pursue these laws that are really in nobody's best interest," Nye implores at the end of the video. "We have other problems to solve everybody. Come on, let's work together."