Violet T.
02.17.2020
(CHARLOTTESVILLE, DAVINCI) - Alabama state representative Rolanda Hollis recently sponsored a bill that requires men to undergo a vasectomy at their own expense.
“Under existing law, there are no restrictions on the reproductive rights of men. This bill would require a man to undergo a vasectomy within one month of his 50th birthday or the birth of his third biological child, whichever comes first,” the bill states.
Rep. Hollis stated in a tweet that the bill was introduced as an attempt to “neutralize the abortion ban bill.”
The abortion bill, called The Alabama Human Life Protection Act, proposes that all abortions in Alabama should be felony offenses, with no rape exclusion. However, abortions used to prevent serious health conditions caused by the pregnancy remain legal.
Hollis also believes that men should be held accountable for unwanted pregnancies--and thus abortions--saying in the tweet:
“The responsibility is not always on the woman. It takes two to [tango].”
The vasectomy bill has received backlash, including from Senator Ted Cruz, who tweeted in response to the bill: “A government big enough to give you everything is big enough to take everything...literally!”
Hollis makes clear, however, that the bill was meant to “send a message that men should not be legislating what women do with their bodies.” Along with this, the lawmaker wrote to the Associated Press: “Year after year the majority party continues to introduce new legislation that tries to dictate a woman’s body and her reproductive rights. We should view [the bill] as the same outrageous overstep in authority.”