A Kentucky state representative believed that a new law requiring women to have a medical consultation 24 hours before having an abortion smacked of sexism.
So the lawmaker, Mary Lou Marzian, proposed a bill in the male-dominated House to drive home the point.
Under the legislation by Marzian, a Democrat from Louisville, men would have to navigate a series of obstacles before they could obtain erectile dysfunction drugs, like Viagra. Each man would be required to have two doctor visits, a signed-and-dated letter from his spouse providing consent, and a sworn statement — delivered with his hand on a Bible — that he would use the drugs only to have sex with his spouse.
Only married men would be eligible for the drugs.
In a phone interview Monday, Marzian said: “I thought if we’re going to insert ourselves into women’s most private health care decisions, then we should insert ourselves into men’s most private health care decisions as well.’’
The proposal, to be sure, is tongue-in-cheek. She said she did not expect it to pass and was not sure if the plan — put forward Thursday — would even get a hearing.
Her point, she said, was to “wake up women all over Kentucky.’’
The abortion law, signed by Governor Matt Bevin earlier this month, passed the Senate, 92-3. It was amended to allow women to conduct a live video chat with a doctor instead of an in-person visit. The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky called the policy “an alarming overstep by lawmakers’’ that would “force both doctors and patients to comply with the will of lawmakers rather than medical expertise or personal choices for care.’’
But it was hailed by those who oppose abortion.
“Many have fought for a long, long time to see meaningful prolife legislation come out of this Legislature and be signed into law,’’ Bevin said at the bill’s signing, according to WLKY.
Three female Democrats, including Marzian, cast the only votes against the law. She attributed the lack of opposition to a lack of political will: With Democrats holding just a 50-46 lead, there is a significant possibility that the party could lose control of the House after November.
Marzian, 61, who has represented a Louisville district since 1995, will run unopposed.
Her erectile dysfunction bill, she said, was meant to highlight what she saw as hypocrisy from politicians. In past debates — a smoking ban that was defeated and a booster seat requirement that passed, for example — her political opponents spoke against government intervention in private lives, she said. The requirement that only married men could receive the drugs was aimed at politicians’ stated focus on family values, she added.
In hopes of landing her message, she chose a subject she thought would get men’s attention. About 80 percent of the House is male.
“I have found that men are very touchy about their sexual lives, and they think that is very personal,’’ she said. “So I wanted to hit a chord that men could understand how it feels to have a politician say, ‘Well, you really don’t know enough; you really need some education about this because you just don’t know enough about your body; and we need to insert ourselves into your private life.’?’’
