Kelly Cassidy's Viagra Amendment: Illinois Lawmaker Fights Anti-Abortion Measure

Several Illinois lawmakers expressed frustration last week when the Illinois House Agriculture Committee once again put women's health issues on their agenda -- and now one legislator is fighting back.

The committee, which is supposed to deal with livestock and farming issues, has a history of taking up controversial social issues as a way of pushing conservative policies to the floor. The committee has previously debated gambling, abortion and even state gun laws.

The agriculture group is now looking to amend the Ambulatory Surgical Treatment Center Act to impose strict new regulations on women's health clinics that offer abortions. They also want to pass the Ultrasound Opportunity Act, which would require all Illinois women seeking abortions to view an ultrasound of the fetus, or sign a statement documenting reasons for refusing. The bill would not allow exceptions for any health circumstances.

Almost all of the lawmakers pushing for the abortion restrictions are Republican men, and lesbian Rep. Kelly Cassidy wants to make it clear that she does not stand with her agriculture committee counterparts on these issues. Cassidy reportedly told LGBT journalist Jamie Royce that she plans on introducing a measure that would require people seeking Viagra for erectile dysfunction to watch a video on potential side effects before receiving it.

“When the ultrasound bill was introduced, I talked about desire to put something in that was reciprocal,” Cassidy told Royce, according to Stuff Queer People Need To Know. “If we were to require informed consent for potential erectile dysfunction patients on the potential side effects and treatment of those side effects, it would be a reasonable balance.”

Cassidy added that the reason these bills pass through the agriculture committee is because it is "conservative enough to move the bills to the floor."

The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois calls the regulations "excessive and medically unnecessary" and will hold a "Women are not livestock" rally in Springfield on Tuesday -- when the Agriculture and Conservation Committee will hear the Ambulatory Surgical Treatment Center Act amendment.

"House Bill 4117 (which we saw last year) creates a series of new, burdensome regulations, unrelated to protecting health, for facilities that perform abortions regulations that will cause many, if not most, of the Illinois’ abortion providers to shutter their facilities," the ACLU wrote on its website. "This is, of course, the aim of the anti-abortion zealots who propose this bill which will be heard in the Agriculture Committee (along with measures on tethering dogs and boat safety). The hearing of this bill in the Ag Committee insults all who care about women’s health."

Last year, the Better Government Association reported that seven bills had been sent through the Agriculture Committee that had nothing to do with farming or the environment, most of which dealt with controversial issues including gambling, abortion and even the state's hotly-debated concealed carry measure.

"While this is a completely legal tactic, and does not violate House Rules, it’s not a good government approach to passing laws," the BGA wrote. "Taxpayers rely on lawmakers to make good public policy decisions."

Earlier on HuffPost:

Comments

[Xoubuo]

08:36 PM on 03/08/2012

Heck I'm all for it. If were requiring women a medical exam before they are allowed to take contraceptives, I'm all for a bill requiring men to get a medical exam before they are allowed to take Viagra or contraceptives. Fair is Fair and what you do to one, you have to do to the other. We can't have a double standard here in this country. It might violated the equal protection clause of the US Constitution.

[Barbara Chalef]

11:39 AM on 02/22/2012

Another satirical response to the tea-pugnacan't anti-birth control and abortion bills - invasive prostate exams for men who want a prescription for Viagra, etc.

I say go one better and demand that the bill include a cystoscopy. It is much worse than a trans-vaginal ultrasound.

"The cystoscopy is a very frightening prospect -- having an instrument pushed up your penis is no man's idea of a good time. But experiences vary widely. Below is a range of newsgroup postings on cystoscopy to help you get oriented:
A cystoscopy uses a device which is inserted into the urethra via the opening at the end of the penis. It allows the doctor to visually examine the complete length of the urethra plus the bladder for polyps, strictures, abnormal growths and other problems. Prostatitis patients should insist on the use of a flexible fiber optic scope rather than the traditional rigid cystoscope (see illustrations.)"

Who knows? Some good might come of it; it might catch early cases of prostate cancer. Bad news, there might ba a whole bunch of false positives.

http://prostatitis.org/cystoscopy.html

[nvrbl]

09:20 AM on 02/22/2012

So women get raped and men get to watch a movie. That'll show 'em.

[momamazed]

02:10 AM on 02/22/2012

You know, if they aren't raping women one way, they're doing it another.

I'm ready to advocate for a device that does not allow men to perform intercourse, that can only be removed after they've proven their willingness and ability to support any children that may result from it.

[cbrown1389]

12:56 AM on 02/22/2012

GOD BLESS HER!!! I have been saying this since they opened this can of worms........and snakes......and black widows...........DON'T MESS WITH WOMEN....DIDN'T YOUR MOMMA TEACH YOU ANYTHING? GOP IS GOING DOWN, along with something else without their little blue pill........LOL

[kkhoep]

12:48 AM on 02/22/2012

why stop at illinois?

[nikanj]

12:02 AM on 02/22/2012

The 'Ultrasound Opportunity Act' ? Uneffingbelievable.

[taquinas]

11:53 PM on 02/21/2012

I am a man and I approve this message. It's 2012 no room for double standards. And why is the House Agriculture Committee delving into obstetrics?

[greenie 61]

12:19 AM on 02/22/2012

Because we are nothing more than brood mares to them.

[HaroldHeckubah]

11:52 PM on 02/21/2012

She didn't go nearly far enough. A colonoscopy, a prostate exam, and a 15-minute stress test on a treadmill should be required to make sure the men are "healthy enough" for sex.

[cbrown1389]

12:57 AM on 02/22/2012

and an enema before they even get started!!!!!

[calmly2]

07:27 AM on 02/22/2012

YES!

[RationalCaliGirl]

10:54 PM on 02/21/2012

They need to include a bill requiring a prostate ultrasound before a Viagra prescription can be prescribed.

[golions]

10:19 PM on 02/21/2012

Cheers to Kelly Cassidy! You have just become my favorite lawmaker. :)

[sfbbmom]

10:02 PM on 02/21/2012

Actually, the more important bill to introduce is to deny insurance coverage for Viagra unless women get coverage for birth control.

[LA Crystal]

02:19 AM on 02/22/2012

I like that too.

[MHT73]

08:43 AM on 02/22/2012

True. The other thing to consider is that contraception saves the medical cost of birth, and saves the medical cost of abortion. Viagra saves no costs elsewhere in the system.

If we're worried about cost, deny Viagra across the board, and mandate coverage for birth control. It's a win-win on the cost side.

[esosa233]

09:57 PM on 02/21/2012

Contraceptives = The difference between the life and death of a fetus and mother
Viagra = Yay, now I can finally have intercourse and not feel self conscious

Viagra trauma does not equal Contraceptive trauma. Why must this be the best we can do for evening the power between women and men. I cannot believe we are still living in such a male oriented society that in this day and age a women can't even have a fetus without all senate staring between her legs.

[MHT73]

08:45 AM on 02/22/2012

Yes, and Viagra is costly, with no attendant cost savings. Birth control is cheap, and saves money and lives. It really should be a no-brainer which gets covered and which does not, but instead we've got the no-brainpower thinking on display.

[whitney1]

09:21 PM on 02/21/2012

When are the Republicans going to help create jobs and stop destroying women's rights ?

[taquinas]

11:56 PM on 02/21/2012

Believe it or not the Taliban treats their women the same way.

[Parkite]

11:09 AM on 02/22/2012

It is easy to believe.

[movnforward]

10:40 AM on 02/22/2012

Um, never....

[evolvedtg]

08:07 PM on 03/09/2012

FANNED AND FAVED, MOVNFORWARD!

[wkillpatri]

08:07 PM on 02/21/2012

HOORAY, Kelly! A couple of amendments to the proposed legislation:
1) ED medications should be available only to men seeking treatment for infertility as any drug used to treat ED should be prescribed for procreation, only.
2) Men seeking pharmaceutical treatment for ED should be drug-tested monthly to ensure they're not abusing the drug or taking more than necessary, e.g., for recreational purposes.
3) Any legislation moved to the floor via the Ag Committee, if passed, should be funded in whole by the Illinois Dept. of Agriculture. That would put a stop to side-stepping standard procedure.

[ArtLvr911]

09:36 PM on 02/21/2012

Kelly has a good idea, but doesn't go far enough: men seeking help for any sex-related problem should be required to have a proctologist's exam, that's definitely invasive. Tit for Tat, they say!

[wkillpatri]

10:30 AM on 02/22/2012

Well thank you ArtLvr911. You're absolutely right and I stand (happily) corrected. In fact, I'll take your bet and raise you one. Soory, I have to explain myself before this will make sense.

There's new legislation proposed in VA requiring a trans-vaginal ultrasound be performed with the fetus' image being shown to a woman before she can have an abortion, even in rape/incest/life-threatening circumstances. With or w/o the woman's permission, doctors will be REQUIRED to insert/penetrate a woman with a large, uncomfortable scope to get the image. This, according to current VA law is defined as rape. So, what I was starting to say before the preceding commercial interruption, complements of the VA State House of Delegates, was:

While Republican's new "smaller, less intrusive government" is already inside our bodies, why not have men enjoy an anesthesia-free colonoscopy? No need for ED meds if you're going to die of colon cancer now, is there? Besides (sarcasm ends here), colon cancer is one of the most treatable cancers if detected early. Early treatment is also (comparatively) inexpensive. Late detection is virtually a death-sentence and it's a long, gruesome way to go.

So if you want the strength and precision of William Tell, let's have a look and determine the cause of that god-awful smell.