Even if you haven’t been following the American abortion debate, you’ve probably caught quick mentions of how bad it can be over there. There’s Georgia’s ‘heartbeat bill’ which sparked boycotts from big Hollywood names, Ohio’s insistence that you can re-implant an ectopic pregnancy despite the fact that this is impossible, and Kansas is trying to change their state’s constitution to make abortion illegal.
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For everyone that wants these laws to be passed, there are people that are absolutely against regulating what people (mostly women, let’s be real) can do with their bodies. We’ve seen a lot of protests in the streets over these bills, but one Alabama politician has come up with a more creative protest.
Last year, Alabama signed into law the Alabama Human Life Protection Act, an incredibly tough anti-aborion law which is aimed at forcing the Supreme Court to take another look at Roe Vs. Wade.
In response, Democratic representative Rolanda Hollis has filed a bill that would require every man in Alabama to get a vasectomy after he has his third biological kid or when he turns 50. Whatever comes first.
Speaking about the bill, Rolanda Hollis has said that “It takes 2 to tangle. This will help prevent pregnancy as well as abortion of unwanted children.”
Unsurprisingly, this has gone over like a lead balloon. Turns out the men folk in parliament don’t like the idea of having their reproductive rights taken away? Funny that.
In a spectacular example of double standards, notoriously anti-abortion American Senator Ted Cruz (you know, the one who may or may not be the Zodiac Killer) has tweeted about what a bad idea the vasectomy bill is. And look, he’s right! It’s a terrible idea!
We shouldn’t force this sort of reproductive control on anybody of any gender. The fact that Cruz has somehow missed the fact that the bill is parodying his own beliefs has left us with a pretty spectacular own goal, though.
So before anybody gets too worried, there’s no way this protest bill will pass. Men from Alabama won’t be forced to get vasectomies and have their reproductive autonomy taken away from them. The women of Alabama? Well, that’s a whole different story.
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