Georgia Republicans are at it again, trying to control women’s bodies through the law—but this time, state Rep. Dar’shun Kendrick is replying in kind with her “Testicular Bill of Rights” showing what it looks like to propose similar legal control of men’s bodies.
Kendrick’s bill, which obviously will not become law, would require men to get permission from their sexual partners before obtaining a Viagra prescription; ban vasectomies and impose criminal penalties on doctors who perform them; require men to begin paying child support immediately after a paternity test performed after eight weeks of pregnancy; and impose a 24-hour waiting period on men’s purchases of porn or sex toys.
It’s a direct response to a Republican bill to ban abortion after six weeks, a point when many women don’t even know they’re pregnant yet. That bill recently passed the Georgia House and is headed for a vote in the state Senate. Georgia law already requires a waiting period before a woman can exercise her legal right to have an abortion, as well as limiting insurance coverage for state workers and women in the state’s Affordable Care Act health exchange.