Georgia lawmaker drafts “testicular bill of rights” after controversial abortion bill passes
A Georgia lawmaker is tired of women’s reproductive rights being on the chopping block, especially after the legislature passed a controversial heartbeat bill that would ban abortions around six weeks.
So, on Monday morning, state Rep. Dar’shun Kendrick flipped the script and drafted the “testicular bill of rights” Legislation that would put parameters in place when it comes to male reproductive rights and organs.
In an email to her legislative counsel, she wrote:
“Good morning. Please have the following legislation drafted.” She laid out the suggestions including: “Require men to obtain permission from their sexual partner before obtaining a prescription for Viagra. Ban vasectomies in Georgia, and criminalize the doctors who perform them. Classify sex without a condom as “aggravated assault.” Require paternity testing at 8 weeks of pregnancy, and require expectant fathers to begin paying child support immediately,” Rolling Stone reports.
She also suggested there be a 24-hour waiting period imposed on men who want to buy porn or sex toys in the state.
“I’m dead serious,” Kendrick told the outlet.
Kendrick plans to propose the legislation when she gets a draft copy at the end of the week. Her reason, she says is to “bring awareness to the fact that if you’re going to legislate our bodies, then we have every right to propose legislation to regulate yours.”
Kendrick knows it will be nearly impossible to get the piece of legislation passed in the Georgia House of Representatives, but she wants to bring attention to HB 481 aka the controversial “heartbeat bill” that puts limitations on a woman’s body.
“I’ll get signatures on it, or not — I might be the only signature. That’s fine,” she says.
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On Thursday, the bill was passed with a vote of 93-73. Once Governor Brian Kemp signs it, it will outlaw abortion in the early stages of pregnancy at a time when women may not even realize they are even pregnant yet.
“It’s unconstitutional on purpose: this is a test case. It is a case to test Roe v. Wade. They’re hoping that it gets up to the Court of Appeals — the Eleventh Circuit is one of the most conservative court circuits that we have, and they’re hopeful that they will uphold part of it, and then they’ll take it all the way to the Supreme Court,” Kendrick says. “They know exactly what they are doing. This is intentional.”
“In 2012, we had a bill that took [the cut-off to seek an abortion] from 26 weeks down to 20 weeks, and I knew that as soon as a Republican president got in office and was able to make Supreme Court nominations, that this was the direction we were headed,” she says.
“Georgia is going blue: we picked up 17 seats this past legislative session,” Kendrick said. “So, as with most things, they are trying to rush it through because they know that it’s on the horizon. But if I am still here when Democrats take over, [the heartbeat bill] will be the first bill that I overturn if it’s not overturned already.”
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