Senator Janet Howell Cleverly Fights For Gender Equality With Male Rectal Exams

In very interesting news today Virginia Sentor Janet Howell has decided to use a rather atypical but brilliantly clever approach to fight a bill that would require women to undergo an ultrasound before having an abortion. She attached an amendment that would require men to have a rectal exam and a cardiac stress test before obtaining a prescription for erectile dysfunction medication. ”We need some gender equity here,” she told HuffPost. “The Virginia senate is about to pass a bill that will require a woman to have totally unnecessary medical procedure at their cost and inconvenience. If we’re going to do that to women, why not do that to men?”

Though the measure was rejected (just barely at 21 votes to 19), Howell should be applauded for coming up with a unique and ingenious way to argue against a meddling medical procedure by insisting that men get the same unneccessary treatment. Fight absurdity with absurdity. A similar bill in Texas, which physicians say has caused a “bureaucratic nightmare,” is currently being challenged in court. Howell said she is not surprised her amendment failed. “This is more of a message type of an amendment, so I was pleased to get 19 votes,” she said.

She pointed out that there are only seven women in the Virginia senate, and six of them voted in favor of her amendment, along with 13 male senators. Sen. Jill Vogel (R-Fauquier County), the sponsor of the mandatory ultrasound bill, voted against it. “I do believe that erectile dysfunction in this context is different from pregnancy,” she said on the senate floor. The Senate will formally vote on the mandatory ultrasound bill on Tuesday.