This week, a Democratic Mississippi State Senator introduced legislation that would prohibit men from masturbating “without the intention to fertilize an egg.” The lawmaker criticized anti-abortion laws that “focus only on women’s roles.”
Bradford Blackmon, state senator, introduced the bill on Monday, which is called The Contraception Begins at Erection Act. Financial penalties will be applied to those who are found guilty of breaking the law. These will increase over time.
The first fine would be $1,000. The second would be $5,000. A fine of $10k would be levied for a third or subsequent offense.
Blackmon, who is a first-term legislator, has included two exceptions. The first one pertains to sperm donation and the second, to the use of contraception which would prevent fertilization.
Blackmon, in a statement given to WLBT News, said that “all across the nation, and especially here in Mississippi the vast majority” of bills relating to abortion or contraception focus on women’s roles when men make up 50% of the equation.
He added, “This bill brings that fact into the discussion and brings the role of the man into the conversation.” “People may be outraged and say it’s absurd, but I don’t find that to be a problem.”
The law will take effect July 1 if it is approved by the Republican-led State Legislature and signed by the Governor. Tate Reeves, (R), the law will come into effect on July 1.
According to KFF (a non-profit focused on health policy), Mississippi is one of 12 states that have a complete or nearly total ban on abortion. Six other states also ban abortions between six and 12 weeks gestation.
“When a bill has been filed that would regulate what a man can do with his own body in his own home, it suddenly has people in an uproar,” Blackmon told Newsweek. “I am trying to figure out when it is OK for the government to dictate what you do in the privacy of your own home. It is when the laws regulate men.”
