Male Democratic lawmaker proposes legislation to force men to have a vasectomy once they have had three kids or when they turn 40 – in response to Texas’ abortion ban
- All men will be forced to have a vasectomy within six weeks of having their third child or turning 40, under a Democratic lawmaker’s proposal for Pennsylvania
- Representative Chris Rabb introduced the legislation, which also grants a $10K reward to private citizens who report violators of the law to the authorities
- Rabb created the legislation as a rebuke of Texas’s restrictive abortion law
- He said he was inspired by Illinois Democratic Representative Kelly Cassidy, who introduced a law on Sept. 14 aimed at protecting abortion in her state
- The bill drew criticism on Twitter and from Pennsylvania Rep. Barb Gleim, who said progressives ‘completely disregarded your personal medical freedom’
A male Democratic lawmaker from Pennsylvania is proposing that all men be forced to have a vasectomy within six weeks of having their third child or turning 40 – whichever comes first – in response to Texas’ extreme abortion bill.
Representative Chris Rabb introduced the satirical legislation, which refers to men as ‘inseminators’ and grants a $10K reward to private Pennsylvania citizens who report violators or who ‘wrongfully conceive’ a child with them.
It also codifies the definition of ‘wrongful conception’ to include anyone who ‘demonstrated negligence toward preventing contraception during intercourse.’
‘As long as legislators continue to restrict the #ReproductiveRights of cis women, trans men & non-binary folx, there should be laws to address the responsibility of men who impregnate them,’ he tweeted about the proposal.
Rabb created the bill as a rebuke of Texas’s restrictive abortion law with some of his description directly paralleling it. Texas rolled out SB8 on September 1 which banned abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected on an ultrasound, usually six weeks into a pregnancy.
Representative Chris Rabb (left) introduced legislation mandating that all men be forced to have a vasectomy within six weeks of having their third child or turning 40
Rabb explained the legislation in a series of tweets. The proposal also grants a $10K reward to private citizens who report violators of the law to the authorities
Rabb said he was inspired by Illinois Democratic Representative Kelly Cassidy, who introduced a law on September 14 aimed at protecting abortion in her state. She is above at a Planned Parenthood rally in her state
The law also allows private citizens to enforce it by rewarding them with at least $10,000, plus legal fees, for bringing a successful civil lawsuit against anyone who enables women to get an abortion, including Uber drivers who brought them to the clinic. The law does not allow for exceptions in cases of rape or incest.
‘For far too long, the public debate around abortion, contraception and related reproductive matters has thrust government into the center of restrictions on the bodily autonomy of women and girls,’ Rabb’s bill reads. ‘Rarely is there a meaningful dialogue around public policy focusing on the personal responsibility of cisgender men in this sphere.’
The language of the bill also includes a number of sexual innuendos and vasectomy-related terms. It reads, ‘As we head toward climax on this heated discourse around this delicate matter, we should come together to address it with surgical precision. We must also commit to mending the social fabric being sliced up by bitter acrimony.
Rabb added that his bill was inspired by Illinois Democratic Representative Kelly Cassidy, who introduced a bill on September 14 dubbed the TExAS Act, or The Expanding Abortion Services Act, which grants a $10,000 award to citizens who bring a civil action suit against anyone who commits domestic violence or sexual assault or causes an unwanted pregnancy.
The bill also establishes a state fund to assist anyone seeking an abortion in Illinois who lives in a state with restrictive bans.
‘When the Texas legislature, aided by the United States Supreme Court, declared open season on people seeking reproductive health care, it was very clear to me that our state is in a unique position to reach out our hands and offer people from Texas and other states who seek to restrict reproductive rights a safe haven,’ Cassidy said in a press release.
Rabb and Cassidy will be holding an online town hall meeting at a to-be-determined date to discuss their bills as well as ‘the importance of fighting for reproductive justice in state legislatures and what that means for those who seek to protect the bodily autonomy of all people,’ reads a press release from Rabb’s office.
Rabb created the legislation as a rebuke of Texas’s restrictive abortion law with some of his description directly paralleling it. Protesters were above in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 4 during a nationwide day of demonstrations against restrictions on abortion like the one in Texas
Texas rolled out SB8 on Sept 1 banned abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected on an ultrasound, usually six weeks into a pregnancy
In order to improve public health outcomes and release sweet justice into our households and bedrooms, we must wrap our love of individual liberty in the moral imperative of greater personal responsibility and acknowledge men’s essential role in procreation.’
Pennsylvania Republican Representative Barb Gleim took to Facebook to post a scathing rebuke of Rabb’s proposal, in which she wrote, ‘If there was any doubt that today’s progressive left have utterly and completely disregarded your personal medical freedom, then let this be the nail in the coffin.’
She added, ‘This bill will never see the light of day as long as Republicans control the House, but I wanted you all to be aware how quickly policies that belong in Communist China would become the norm here if Democrats seized total control of State Government.’
The bill also drew criticism on Twitter from users with some branding it communism, others calling it fascism and others mocking Rabb’s labelling of men as ‘inseminators.’
Journalist Siraj Hashmi tweeted ‘uh oh’ with an image of the ‘Don’t Treat on Me’ flag where the snake is replaced by a scrotum and the phrase is replaced with one that reads, ‘Don’t Tread on Deez.’
Twitter user Alex (Sasha) Krainer wrote, ‘This is the most profane intrusion of government burraucracy into people’s most intimate, private decisions. “Wrongful conception”? Have you no shame sir?’
Keith J. likened it to Nazi Germany and tweeted, ‘Government forced sterilization. How very 1930’s Germany in your thinking.’
The profile of a veteran’s organization called Code of Vets tweeted, ‘This is not sane, normal or American. On a side-note I have never heard anyone call a dad an inseminator. Cringe!’
And musician Benton Blount wrote, ‘Are you in that big of a hurry to become China?’
Rabb’s proposal is not the first of its kind. Alabama Democratic Representative Rolanda Hollis put a similar bill in February 2020 that requires men in the state to pay for a vasectomy within a month of turning 50 or after the birth of their third child. Her bill was swiftly labeled by critics as an ‘outrageous overstep.’
Rabb said of his bill, ‘To each person who views this bill I’ve introduced as absurd, I’d urge you to apply equal scrutiny to laws in places like Texas and right here in Pennsylvania, which enact paternalistic restrictions on the personal liberty of cis women, trans men and nonbinary individuals who have an unwanted pregnancy. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander!’
The Democrats’ proposals come days before the start of a new term for the Supreme Court that will decide the future of abortion rights in the United States, after appointments of justices by President Donald Trump strengthened conservative control of the high court.
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