Legislators from several states are trying to counter the recent legislation that they believe negatively impact women’s health decisions. And they have done it with some attention-grabbing legislation of their own.
Four states are currently considering legislation that would regulate erectile dysfunction (ED) medication. Legislators in Iowa, Kentucky, South Carolina and Tennessee. These legislators are building on an effort that started in Ohio, led my former State Senator Nina Turner and a few other states.
These bills include clauses including, that ED medication will only be available if used within a marital relationship, requiring spousal or partner approval for the prescription, requiring a certification of need, requiring a two-day wait period and requiring pharmacists to enforce these at point of sale.
“Considering” might be a strong word, because, obviously these bills have no chance of passage. So, why do it?
Every year, legislators introduce bills with no chance of passing, but are meant only to make a statement. Usually these statements are to voters. Legislators want to show that they care about or raise awareness of certain issues.
These ED bills certainly fit into that category, however by being so over the top ridiculous, these bills go a step further. The sponsors have introduced these bills want to make a statement to their legislative colleagues, and that statement is stop legislating women’s health choices.
Recent bills on access to birth control, requiring women get fetal ultrasounds before terminating pregnancies and other women’s health issues have become common. These bills are often introduced more due to legislators’ social beliefs rather than any scientific or medical reasoning.
More to the sponsors’ point, these bills are mainly introduced by men and, as legislatures are on average 75% male, voted on by men.
It is hard to determine exactly how this protest movement was organized, but what is clear is that legislators talk to their colleagues in other states. Good ideas (and bad ideas) often spread from one state to another. These bills are a great example. What can an advocacy organization learn from this? First, your bill does not always need to pass to get your message across. Second, your organization should be monitoring for all legislation that mentions your issues. Third, your advocacy efforts should include those meetings like the National Conference of State Legislatures and Council of State Governments where legislators from around the country meet and talk about issues and share ideas.
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