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A Mississippi senator has introduced a bill aimed at banning men from participating in certain sexual activities if they do not intend to make a baby.
The Contraception Begins at Erection Act was introduced this month by Democratic Mississippi State Senator Bradford Blackmon, who says the bill is intended to spotlight double legislative standards and bring the role of men into the law-making conversation about contraception and abortion.
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The bill is a provocative response to recent restrictions on women’s reproductive rights, particularly following the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
“All across the country, especially here in Mississippi, the vast majority of bills relating to contraception and/or abortion focus on the woman’s role when men are fifty per cent of the equation,” says Blackmon. “This bill highlights that fact and brings the man’s role into the conversation. People can get up in arms and call it absurd but I can’t say that bothers me.”
The bill includes hefty fines for violations of discharging ‘genetic material’ without the intent to fertilize an embryo: $1,000 for a first offence, $5,000 for a second offence, and $10,000 for third or subsequent offences. However, there are exceptions that may apply. For example, the sperm from a discharge could be donated or sold to a sperm bank. The man could also use contraception.
Currently, contraception is protected under rulings made by the U.S. Supreme Court, but there is no explicit federal law guaranteeing access. This leaves contraception use vulnerable to state-level restrictions.
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Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and ended the constitutional right to abortion, legislatures in Republican-led states have increasingly sought to restrict contraception access, as well as abortion.
Currently, 12 states, including Mississippi, have total or near-total abortion bans, while an additional six states ban abortion from six to 12 weeks of gestation, according to KFF, a nonprofit group that researches health policy issues.
By mid-2024, eight states had enacted or proposed restrictions on women’s access to contraception, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports access to abortion.
Some states require parental consent for minors to access contraceptives. Others muddy the waters by blending emergency contraception (like Plan B) with abortion, leading to efforts to restrict its use.
Abortion bans in several states have created confusion and fear among healthcare providers and patients, indirectly limiting access to IUDs and emergency contraception. For example, misinformation that IUDs cause abortions has led to restrictions on their availability in some Medicaid programs.
The lack of clarity in state abortion laws has also led to contraceptive deserts, forcing individuals to travel long distances to access birth control.
The proposed date for the bill to become law is July 1, 2025.
However, despite Senator Blackmon’s good intentions, it doesn’t seem likely his bill will pass through the Republican-dominated Mississippi legislature.
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