Democrat Files Bill To Make It As Hard To Get Viagra As It Is To Have An Abortion
Conservative lawmakers around America have seized on the fabricated Planned Parenthood “scandal” as an excuse to pass draconian anti-abortion laws around the country, making it extremely difficult for women to exercise their right to make reproductive choices about their own bodies. In response, outnumbered Democrats in red states have taken to protesting in whatever way they can, like proposing bills to make it as difficult to buy a gun as it is to get an abortion.
A Representative from South Carolina has her own take on the matter, and filed bill H. 4544 to impose strict limits on the availability of popular erectile dysfunction drugs like Viagra and Cialis similar to the absurd restrictions the state has imposed on female reproductive health. Under this bill:
- Only a physician could write a prescription for erectile dysfunction drugs.
- The patient would have to sign a form acknowledging he was notified by his doctor of the potential risks and complications associated with taking the drugs.
- A doctor would have to provide a written statement, under penalty of perjury, that the drug is necessary to treat the man’s erectile dysfunction, which includes the doctor’s medical rationale for issuing the prescription.
- There would be a waiting period to get the pills. The prescription couldn’t be issued less than 24 hours after the man acknowledges in writing that he was notified of the drug’s harmful side effects.
- The man would have to attend three counseling sessions during a six-month period after the drug was prescribed. The purpose, McLeod’s proposal states, is to make sure he understands the risks associated with the drugs, but also to inform him of non-pharmaceutical treatments for erectile dysfunction, including counseling and celibacy.
The bill’s sponsor, Mia McLeod (D-79th District) said she wants “the bill to spark a different conversation but also to provide a little insight into how invasive the requirements are with regard to abortion, and that’s why this bill has a 24-hour period and other restrictions. She recognizes the absurdity of her proposal, but is determined to get local government out of people’s personal choices. “Who am I to tell them that? But by the same token, who are they to tell us what to do with our bodies?”
It is deeply concerning that in this day and age, state governments run by old white men are still obsessing over women’s bodies and their reproductive choices while they let their state’s infrastructure collapse around them. In the so-called land of the free, we cannot allow the right-wing to succeed with their misogynistic crusade to control women’s bodies.
