TEXAS: House Bill 4260, called the “Man’s Right to Know Act,” criticizes current and proposed laws that govern the reproductive rights of women for restricting their access to abortions and health care choices. That’s why state Rep. Jessica Farrar of Houston decided to sponsor a bill to show the absurdity of some of these laws coming from the Republican Party. The bill, among many provisions, puts restrictions on certain health treatments for men and creates a $100 fine for men who masturbate.

The new bill has a symbolic name because of ‘A Woman’s Right to Know’ booklet which doctors distribute to women to learn more about the risks and side effects of abortions. Women also must wait 24 hours after receiving the booklet and must undergo an ultrasound before the procedure. Abortion of a viable fetus can bring a penalty of at least five years in prison. There are many restrictions that the new bill proposes to show the sexist double standards politicians make about people’s reproductive health. For example, the bill calls “masturbatory emissions” an “act against an unborn child, and failing to preserve the sanctity of life.” Farrar’s bill would also require men to pay $100 each time they masturbated outside of intercourse.

The bill contains provisions that would also put restrictions on vasectomies, Viagra prescriptions and colonoscopies, including:

• The state must create an informational booklet called “A Man’s Right to Know” that contains information and illustrations on the benefits of and concerns about those three treatments. A man must review the booklet before going through with any of them.
• A man must receive a rectal exam and an MRI of his rectum before any of the three treatments.
• A man would not be able sue a doctor for refusing to provide those treatments or another procedure if the procedure violates the doctor’s “personal, moralistic, or religious beliefs.”
• "Masturbatory emissions” must be stored for the wife for conception.

Commenting on her bill, Rep. Farrar told mysanantonio.com: “A lot of people find the bill funny. What’s not funny are the obstacles that Texas women face every day, that were placed there by legislatures making it very difficult for them to access healthcare.” And that’s true because a woman should be responsible for her own body and must have freedom to decide what to do with it. And politicians have other plans with women’s reproductive rights. They want to regulate an area that is extremely diverse and complicated and to put it in a restrictive and sexist frame. It just shouldn’t be done that way.

Link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzVHjg3AqIQ

Photo Credits: The Smiths Daily