Senator sparks outrage with new bill that would criminalise masturbation
Topics: News, Politics, Sex and Relationships, US News, Health, Women's Health
Rhiannon Ingle
Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images
Topics: News, Politics, Sex and Relationships, US News, Health, Women's Health
Mississippi State Senato Bradford Blackmon has introduced a new bill that would criminalise masturbation.
The 'Contraception Begins at Erection Act' could make it illegal for men to masturbate or have casual sex unless the release of said genetic material is specifically intended to fertilise an egg to create a child.
Blackmon, a Democrat, proposed that penalties for engaging in any sexual activity without the 'intent to fertilise an embryo' could land you with a pretty hefty fine, starting from $1,000 for first-time offenders and going all the way up to $10,000 for repeated violations.
The bill in question, which Blackmon himself admitted 'caused an uproar' is, of course, a joke.
Clearly not getting the satire, a few people rushed to X to share their verdicts on the act with one writing: "Democrats are just ridiculous. 'Contraception Begins at Erection Act'. Another waste of time and money that’s all they do!!"
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"Wow. Just wow. Just when I thought I’d read some dumb stuff, you come along and say 'hold my beer and watch this'," hit out another, also not understanding the hypocrisy.
And a final social media, who did get Blackmon's aim, defended: "Obsessed with the men (and Republican women) losing their minds. They’re so close to getting the point."
According to a statement he shared to Instagram last week, the filing of the bill is 'to point out the double standards in legislation'.
He continued in a press release: "You have male-dominated legislatures in Mississippi and all over the country that pass laws that dictate what a woman can and can not do with her body.
"I was raised by strong parents that preached equality for all. My mother and my father both believe in equal rights for women."
Women and people who can conceive were severely impacted when the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade, which generally protected a right to have an abortion, in 2022.
Now there are currently 12 states including Mississippi which 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.
Ironically, more infants have died in a post-Roe V.Wade America than they did before it was overturned three years ago.
Donald Trump, who has described himself as 'the most pro-life president in American history', has called these laws as a 'beautiful thing to watch'.
Continuing in his statement, Blackmon outlined: "One of the reasons why this legislation is so important is that with the overturning of Roe v Wade, it has not only impacted women's ability to get abortion care but it has also affected women's ability to access basic gynaecological care that includes contraceptive care."
He stated: "When a bill has been filed that would regulate what a man is able to do with his own body in his own home, it suddenly has people in an uproar.
"I am trying to figure out when it isn't okay for the government to dictate what you do in the privacy of your own home, apparently it is when the laws regulate men.
"The reactions from some quarters relating to my bill, indicates that men are not held to the same standard when it comes to the intrusion into their personal private affairs as women have been held to with the reversal of Roe vs. Wade."
He concluded: "It is rich that the landmark Supreme Court decision of Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organisation began it all, here, in the State of Mississippi."