A South Carolina lawmaker is putting forward a new bill to bring heightened attention to the obstacles women face if they choose to get an abortion.
The bill, pre-filed by state Rep. Mia McLeod (D-Columbia), would require men to wait 24 hours between when they receive a prescription for an erectile dysfunction drug and when they could obtain it. Women in South Carolina must wait 24 hours before receiving an abortion. The bill would also require men to get a signed affidavit from a partner confirming he has erectile dysfunction, see a sex therapist and undergo additional health tests, WCBD reported.
Women in South Carolina must receive counseling before they receive an abortion and parents of minors younger than 17 must sign a consent form before an abortion is performed, according to the Guttmacher Institute.
McLeod told WCBD that she doesn't expect the bill to pass, but wants to use it as an opportunity to highlight how difficult it is for women to get an abortion in South Carolina.
“I purposely tried to make it as invasive, as intrusive, as hypocritical, and unnecessary as possible to make the point,” she told the station. “I mean, we’re in a male-dominated legislature, of course, and I really just want to broaden the discussion and get people thinking about and talking about some of the issues that women face who are seeking legal abortion services in this state.”
This isn't the first time that lawmakers have used abortion regulations as a model for regulations on erectile dysfunction drugs. Last month a Missouri lawmaker also proposed regulating those drugs like abortions in her state. The lawmaker, Missouri state Rep. Stacey Newman (D-St. Louis), similarly said that she didn't expect the legislation to pass, but wanted to use it as a way to highlight the hypocricy between how womens' bodies and guns are regulated.
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