You guys, meet Janet Howell, a Democratic Virginia State Senator who is my new hero. Howell was disgusted by a new bill that would require women to undergo an ultrasound before having an abortion, so she decided to protest it in a decidedly unique way. She attached an amendment to that bill that would also require men to have a rectal exam and a cardiac stress test before obtaining a prescription for erectile dysfunction medication.
“We need some gender equity here,” she told the Huffington Post. “The Virginia senate is about to pass a bill that will require a woman to have totally unnecessary medical procedure at their cost and inconvenience. If we’re going to do that to women, why not do that to men?”
Sadly, her amendment was not approved — but only by a slim margin of 21 to 19 — while the bill itself passed in a voice vote (the formal vote will occur this Friday). Howell is not surprised her amendment didn’t pass, but said the intent was to send a “message.”
Message received — anti-choice bills like the one in Virginia are bullshit and I, for one, am glad to have a savvy politician like Janet Howell fighting for our reproductive freedom.
http://www.thefrisky.com/2012-01-31/...abortion-bill/