One of the truly great things about our country is that there is no topic which we will not use for humor. Sometimes the humor is dark, or even ugly, most of the time it is not especially inspired, but we hit an occasional home run while lampooning whatever is going on in our world. As of late, there has been a lot of attention on laws passed to make it more difficult to have an abortion, or to get contraceptives. In response, women (for the most part) legislators have proposed a few bills of their own.
Delaware: By an 8 to 4 vote, the Wilmington, Delaware, city council recognized the personhood of semen because “each ‘egg person’ and each ‘sperm person’ should be deemed equal in the eyes of the government.”
Virginia: As the state Senate debated requiring transvaginal ultrasounds for women seeking abortions, Sen. Janet Howell proposed mandating rectal exams and cardiac stress tests for men seeking erectile dysfunction meds. Her amendment failed by just two votes….
Ohio: A bill introduced by state Sen. Nina Turner would compel men to get psychological screenings before getting prescriptions for impotence meds. “We must advocate for the traditional family,” Turner said, “and ensure that all men using PDE-5 inhibitors are healthy, stable, and educated about their options—including celibacy as a viable life choice.”
Illinois: State Rep. Kelly Cassidy proposed requiring men seeking Viagra to watch a video showing the treatment for persistent erections, an occasional side effect of the little blue pill. As she explained, “It’s not a pretty procedure to watch.”
Senator Howell is much too nice. For male legislators the rectal exam should be done with a 10″ ultrasound probe.
Most interesting. I liked the series of amendments voted down in Texas where the state would be required to assume some of the financial obligation for unwanted pregnancies. Abortion is clearly undesirable. However, unwanted children who are subjected to abuse and neglect add seriously to the woes of our society. Surely, we should be able to find a better solution than either of these extremes. Oh, yes, I remember, effective contraception so pregnancies occur for persons wanting a child.
One of my favorites is the campaign awhile back to send used tampons (Zygote-Americans) to a pro-life senator.
What men need is a paper abortion where they can freely and without question abdicate any parental rights or obligations during the pregnancy of the child-bearer or within three months of finding out they have an offspring. That would be a genuine step towards equal reproductive rights. But, false equivalency and heavily constrained freedom are the goals of the left.
I had always assumed that men abdicating parental obligations was one reason for a fair number of abortions. That’s why I’ve been so surprised at the number of men who oppose abortions, and then focus on women. I am personally more persuaded that men oppose abortion when they focus on men using birth control, and men being responsible in relationships and in the rest of their life, and men…
Dunno. I still keep hearing about men who, once they’ve offered to pay for the abortion and the mother refuses to get one, believe they’ve fulfilled all of their obligations to her (and presumably also to the child?) I do think that the combination of increased state zeal in collecting child support and the perception of ready availability of abortion (even in places where it really ISN’T all that available) have contributed to the fact that the major cause of death among pregnant women in the US today is homicide, usually by the father of the child-to-be.