In an odd proposal, Oklahoma State Representative Mickey Dollens (D-OK) called for young males to be compelled to undergo a vasectomy in order to draw attention to the GOP’s “absurd” restriction on women’s abortions.
During a discussion about a bill to effectively ban abortion from the moment of “fertilization” at a session of the Oklahoma legislature on Thursday, Dollens invited Republican lawmakers to “co-author a bill with me next year that would require every male over puberty to get a mandatory vasectomy that can only be reversed when they reach emotional and financial stability.”
“If you believe that’s crazy, I think you might understand how 50 percent of Oklahomans feel,” he continued.
Noting the “numerous real solutions that may make a difference in decreasing unwanted pregnancies” such as “birth control, family planning, sex education, [and] a decent wage,” Dollens lamented that they have all been “ignored for many years.”
“So you must ask yourself, here we are — almost the last day of the session, second to last week — is this truly a top priority?” he said in reaction to the abortion legislation.
“No,” he answered. “If it was a high priority, we would have already heard about it weeks ago.”
In his state, Dollens referred to the most recent abortion law as an “attempt for cheap political points in a competitive primary.” The bill must be rejected, he said.
The state representative doubled down on his tongue-in-cheek idea to “unwanted pregnancies” in a tweet sharing a video of his idea.
“HB4327 allows individuals to sue physicians for performing an abortion and specifies the point of ‘fertilization’ as the beginning of life. Here’s a suggestion: mandatory vasectomies, if passed would be the first Oklahoma legislation to regulate the male reproductive system.”
“There will be no more unwanted pregnancies,” he added.
“The GOP has a supermajority in Oklahoma, and their policies have only gotten more extreme,” Dollens said on MSNBC’s The Katie Phang Show over the weekend.
“The party of so-called minimal government and personal freedom has evolved into the party of invasion,” he added.
According to Dollens, his plan for forcing vasectomies is meant to “fight fire with fire” by demonstrating how “absurd and ridiculous” it is to restrict one’s bodily autonomy.
The move follows the Oklahoma House of Representatives’ passage of a bill on Thursday that would nearly outlaw all abortions if the Supreme Court reverses Roe v. Wade, which it appears to be prepared to do following a recent leak of a draft opinion indicating as much.
