Whose body it it anyway?
by digby
So one of the tactics the right is taking in trying to control women these days is the introduction of the idea that men have a right to force women they’ve impregnated to give birth against their will. It’s an old idea, the primacy of the male seed and the female “dirt” it’s planted in and all that.
Well, One woman legislator is trying to illustrate the issue for her male colleagues:
Conservative legislators in Kentucky, emboldened by the election of Gov. Matt Bevin (R), are moving swiftly to pass numerous new restrictions on women’s access to abortion. Bevin has already signed into law a stricter “informed consent” bill that requires a face-to-face consultation with a healthcare provider, while a forced ultrasound bill sailed easily through a Senate committee this week. (Jezebel notes that though women would be required to receive an ultrasound before an abortion, the bill does allow them to avert their eyes.)
One lawmaker, however, is trying to turn all of these restrictions on women back on men. Rep. Mary Lou Marzian (D) has filed a new bill (HB 396) creating numerous restrictions for men to access medication for erectile dysfunction, such as Viagra or Cialis. HB 396 adds the following four steps a man would have to undergo:
He must have two office visits on two different calendar days before the health care practitioner prescribes a drug for erectile dysfunction to him.
He can only be prescribed the drug if he is married.
He must produce a signed and dated letter from his current spouse providing consent for the prescription.
He must make a sworn statement on a Bible that he will only use the prescription when having sexual relations with his current spouse.
Marzian, one of only three House members who opposed the informed consent bill, knows that her tongue-in-cheek bill likely won’t go anywhere, but she hopes it will help raise awareness among lawmakers about the way abortion laws intrude on a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body.
In an interview with WDRB Friday, she explained her thinking, “How would this body of men feel if the government was injecting into their private medical decisions?” The intent of her legislation is to “have government insert itself into the personal, private decisions of men — since we have already inserted it into our personal, private decisions of women.”
I would add the necessity of an anal ultrasound just because.
This isn’t the first time women have brought this up God knows. And it never changes a thing. But it should focus the minds of any progressive types who don’t think there’s any chance that women will lose their right to self-determination. These extremist wingnuts are relentless and no matter how much time passes these ridiculous proposals keep coming up, unchanged and without any sense that they are antediluvian throwbacks. They’re out there and they have political power. If they get the chance to do this, they will.
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