Odd that in this entire thread nobody has bothered to post the full statement Lisa Brown made. Some folks seem to be laboring under the impression that, because "vagina" is a clinical term, it was uttered in the context of a clinical statement and the "offended" legislators were reacting only to that one word. Not so.

Here is what Ms Brown said:

"Finally, Mr. Speaker, I'm flattered that you're all so interested in my vagina, but 'no' means 'no.'"

To me, that statement is snide, smarmy, insultive, combative, and has no more business being uttered in a legislative body than any other snide, smarmy, insultive, and combative statement. The fact that the word "vagina" was used in it is far from the whole picture. The woman was being a smart-ass. If she had expressed her opinion in a more moderate tone, it probably wouldn't have mattered to anyone whether or not she used the word "vagina".

If a legislator were to tell a colleague to "copulate with a rolling doughnut", should he be excused on grounds that "copulate" is a nice scientific term? No, because the intent is obviously to deliver an insult, and I don't see a lot of difference in intent between that statement and what Ms Brown said.