For more than a decade, Republicans in the Ohio Legislature have passed dozens of bills on reproductive rights and abortion. Now some Democratic lawmakers are sponsoring a tongue-in-cheek bill that would apply to men.
The 鈥淐onception Begins at Erection Act鈥� is sponsored by Reps. Anita Somani (D-Dublin) and Tristan Rader (D-Lakewood).
Somani, an OB/GYN, has protested many bills that have been passed by the Republican-dominated Ohio Legislature to regulate pregnancy or limit the reproductive freedom of women. So she, along with Rader, explained their bill to regulate the reproductive rights of men on TikTok.
鈥淎fter all, it does take two to tango, right?鈥� Somani said.
Somani said it would be illegal for a man to disseminate semen or genetic material without the intent to fertilize an embryo. She says there would be three exceptions 鈥� masturbation, using a condom and the LGBTQ community.
The satirical bill has just been written and hasn鈥檛 been assigned a number yet. It also doesn鈥檛 have any Republican sponsors either. Somani said she doesn鈥檛 have any GOP lawmakers on board and doesn鈥檛 expect the Republican dominated legislature to take it seriously, but she adds, 鈥渨e need to look at it from the broader perspective of regulating one sex and not the other.鈥�
It's not a surprise, but Rep. Ron Ferguson (R-Wintersville), one of the most conservative members of the House, won鈥檛 be signing on to the legislation. He said he doesn鈥檛 understand why the Democratic lawmakers would think there are so many bills that regulate women鈥檚 bodies. He said this bill doesn鈥檛 make any sense.
鈥淲e are talking about conception happening before a sperm fertilizes an egg. Clearly, somebody doesn鈥檛 understand simple biology,鈥� Ferguson said.
When asked about the bevy of anti-abortion laws passed by the legislature in recent years, Ferguson said, 鈥淪ure we can have that conversation but that鈥檚 a completely different conversation.鈥�
Ferguson said this bill is 鈥渃ompletely out of touch with what matters to everyday Americans.鈥�
Rader said the bill is meant to highlight 鈥渢he vast inequalities of how we talk about men鈥檚 bodies and how we talk about women鈥檚 bodies.鈥� He said, 鈥淚f you find this language to be absurd then maybe you should find any bill attempting to restrict reproductive freedoms absurd as well.鈥�
A similar proposal has been introduced by a Democratic state lawmaker in Mississippi, another state that's dominated by Republicans. The Supreme Court decision that overturned the federal right to abortion came from a case out of Mississippi.