PA Lawmaker: Restrict Men’s ‘Bodily Autonomy’ Too
Rep. Chris Rabb, a lawmaker in Pennsylvania, found a way to get people talking about abortion politics. The male Democrat wrote a bill that mandates “all inseminators to undergo vasectomies within six weeks from having their third child or 40th birthday, whichever comes first.” The legislation, he adds, “will empower Pennsylvanians to enforce this prospective law by offering a $10k reward for reporting to the proper authorities those #scofflaws” who don’t comply “within the allotted timeframe.”
His goal, Rabb says, is to “enforce reproductive responsibility among men” in a society where “public debate” mainly involves “restrictions on the bodily autonomy of women and girls.” The state lawmaker adds, “I thought it was important as a man to speak up about reproductive rights” and the “egregiously gendered double standard.”
Although he admits the move is satirical, Rabb says discussing the topic is vital. “It’s levity on a very serious issue,” he says. “I want to create a conversation about how easily we accept government intervening into the health decisions of women, which should be between them and their family, and then saying what would it feel like if men were being regulated.”
Rabb’s measure, which has little chance of passing, has generated hate mail already, he says. Republicans, who control the state legislature, reject the comparison between vasectomies and abortions.
Similar Legislation in Illinois Has Better Chance of Passing
Rabb says his proposal was inspired by similar legislation drafted by Illinois state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, a Democrat and lesbian who’s married to the half-sister of former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Cassidy’s “TEXAS Act” (The Expanding Abortion Services Act) permits citizens to sue for $10,000 anyone who “commits an act of sexual assault or domestic abuse” or “causes a person to have an unintended pregnancy.”
According to Cassidy’s proposal, half of the collected “bounty” money would go into the “State Abortion Freedom Expansion Fund.” That, in turn, would pay for the abortions of pregnant women who travel to Illinois from other states for the procedure.
“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 says. “I’m proud to come from a state that will uphold the fundamental right for a woman to make the best decision for her own health.”
Because the Illinois legislature leans Democratic, Cassidy’s bill has a greater chance of passing than does Rabb’s in Pennsylvania.
Judge Blocks Texas Abortion Law, But State Is Appealing
Responding to an emergency order filed by the U.S. Justice Department, a federal judge in Austin, Texas, has blocked enforcement of the state’s abortion law. In a 113-page order Wednesday night, U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman writes that Texas officials created an “unprecedented and aggressive scheme to deprive its citizens of a significant and well-established constitutional right.” The ban, he adds, “unlawfully” prevents women “from exercising control over their lives in ways that are protected by the Constitution.”
