How can I disable or inactivate the audio recording feature on iMessage reply?

On my iPhone 16 (running on iOS 18.3) I have an audio recording feature in the 'reply' section, it appears as a 'sound wave' - 5 vertical red bars, different lengths.

If this is accidentally clicked (or happens when I put the phone in my pocket), it will start an audio recording that continues until it is stopped. It can then be inadvertently delivered. There appears to be no method to completely disable this feature.

I only say 'feature' because "My mom said it was impolite to call someone else's software horse-s--t."

I've searched extensively and there is no apparent solution. Please let me know if you've found one.