Sometimes in the polarized struggle between pro-life and pro-choice advocates, politicians have turned to humor to try to bring some perspective to their more extreme colleagues. Oklahoma state Senator Constance Johnson did just that this week—to protest legislation that would make it mandatory for women to listen to their fetus’s heartbeat before being allowed to have an abortion, Johnson proposed an amendment to the "personhood" bill that would make any form of masturbation illegal.
The Democrat wrote in her amendment: "However, any action in which a man ejaculates or otherwise deposits semen anywhere but in a woman's vagina shall be interpreted and construed as an action against an unborn child."
Johnson was taking a page from Fairfax County Democrat Janet Howell, who proposed an amendment that would have required men to undergo a rectal exam and cardiac stress test prior to obtaining erectile dysfunction medication. Howell later said she was merely trying to add “a little gender equality” to the bill.
Having riled and/or confused people significantly enough, Johnson later voted against her own amendment. In an op-ed piece, she explained why she proposed the amendment and why she feels women's rights are being steamrolled by pro-life advocates:
As a woman and a 31-year veteran of the legislative process in Oklahoma, I am increasingly offended by state law trends that solely focus on the female's role in the reproductive process. With Oklahoma's new, never-before-experienced Republican majority, we are seeing enactment of more and more measures that adversely affect women and their rights to access safe medical procedures when making reproductive healthcare decisions.
