Call it the "What's good for the goose is good for the gander" bill.
A female Kentucky state legislator has introduced a bill that would require men who want to use erectile dysfunction drugs like Cialis, Viagra or Levitra to get a note from their wife first. Then they'd have to make two visits to a doctor and promise to only take the pills before sex with a spouse.
Kentucky Rep. Mary Lou Marzian (D) introduced the bill on Thursday as a way to protect men's health and ensure they are informed about a drug with potentially dangerous side effects, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.
"I want to protect these men from themselves," said Marzian, a retired nurse.
Marzian told The Huffington Post that her proposed law is really a tongue-in-cheek way of pointing out how anti-abortion advocates want to involve the government in people's bedrooms. She said her legislation shows government needn't be involved in personal choices, "whether it be about abortion, erectile dysfunction or blood transfusions for Jehovah's Witnesses."
"Six anti-choice bills have been introduced since the beginning of the year," Marzian pointed out.
One of them, signed by new Republican Gov. Matt Bevin, is an informed consent bill that requires women to visit with a health care provider before getting an abortion, according to WDRB.com.
Marzian told the station that the government should insert itself into the personal, private decisions of men "since we have already inserted it into our personal, private decisions of women."
She added:
"We are very 'family values' in the Kentucky General Assembly -- they are all awash in Christian, family values, so that's why I put that part in there that (erectile pills) can only be used in a marital relationship."
Marzian conceded her bill is unlikely to pass. She said she may try to get a hearing for it anyway.
"Republicans, tea party members and some Democrats use wedge issues like abortion as a way to get reelected," she said. "They say they're about protecting the family, but they won't vote to regulate booster seats, to enforce smoking bans or for early child education."
Since introducing the legislation, Marzian said she has gotten a lot of responses from people who say they they appreciate her point. "I also get messages from people who say, 'Why are you wasting your time on this when there are more important things to worry about -- and that's my point!"
Read the erectile dysfunction bill:
