Lifestyle

Lawmaker Writes Bill Requiring Man's Permission For Abortion, Calls Women 'Hosts'

by Maria Guido
Updated: 
Originally Published: 
Image via okhouse.gov

Oklahoma lawmaker wants to pass a bill that would require a woman to get ‘permission’ from a man for her abortion

An Oklahoma lawmaker wants to pass a bill that would require a woman to get permission from a sexual partner before she receives an abortion. That’s right, the bill would require “consent of the father.” Which means it would also require pregnant women seeking an abortion to provide the identity of the father, and allow the identified person to demand a paternity test (that the woman would be in charge of paying for, of course.)

Here is the introduction to House Bill 1441, crafted by Oklahoma State Representative Justin Humphrey. He actually referred to women as “hosts” while discussing the bill. For brevity and ease, we’ll just refer to him as “Representative Dipshit” for the remainder of this article.

“An Act relating to public health and safety; prohibiting abortion to be performed without consent of the father; requiring pregnant woman seeking to abort pregnancy to provide identity of father; allowing identified person to demand paternity test; providing certain exceptions; providing for codification; and providing an effective date.”

Here’s some further text from the proposed law, courtesy of Rep. Dipshit:

“A. No abortion shall be performed in this state without the written informed consent of the father of the fetus.”

“B. A pregnant woman seeking to abort her pregnancy shall be required to provide, in writing, the identity of the father of the fetus to the physician who is to perform or induce the abortion. If the person identified as the father of the fetus challenges the fact that he is the father, such individual may demand that a paternity test be performed.”

Okay, let’s unpack this, shall we?

How do you propose to enforce this, Representative Dipshit? Woman shows up at the doctor’s office with a piece of paper that has the father’s name on it? Does it need to be notarized? Signed in blood? “If the person identified as the father of the fetus challenges the fact that he is the father, such individual may demand that a paternity test be performed.” So now the woman has to wait eight weeks and obtain a costly paternity test. Mkay. What if she doesn’t know who the father is? What if it was a one-night stand? What if revealing the identity of the father would put her in actual physical danger from an abusive partner or husband?

Why think about those things though? Why think about all the ways in which this law makes absolutely zero sense, when you can try to pass it anyway? It’s not enforceable. It simply isn’t, and it doesn’t have to be. It’s doing its job already. It’s sending its message to women everywhere: you have no worth. You simply exist to host a child. You have no voice. Fall in line. It’s just another way for a tiny little man with an inferiority complex to exert power over women.

That’s him on the left, if you were wondering.

There are some exceptions that actually make an abortion obtainable.

“C. This section shall not apply if the father of the fetus is deceased and the woman upon whom the abortion is to be performed or induced signs a notarized affidavit attesting to that fact.”

Phew. If the father of your child is dead, you can go ahead and get your abortion. You just have to prove he’s dead first, by obtaining a signed, notarized affidavit attesting to that fact. That’s not traumatizing at all. No big deal. Maybe your husband just died, you’re pregnant, and you have no way to support another child. Rep. Dipshit will let you make this crushingly painful decision on your own — after getting some paperwork done, of course. What a guy.

“D. This section shall not apply in cases in which a woman upon whom the abortion is to be performed or induced was the victim of rape or incest and the pregnancy resulted from the rape or incest, or in cases where the physician determines that the carrying of the fetus places the woman’s life is in danger.”

Ok, cool. So is Oklahoma some magical place where rape convictions come down in mere weeks? That’s impressive. Of course it’s not. Another absolutely meaningless exception — that isn’t actually an exception. So if someone is raped by a member of their family, they just have to get them to admit to it? Is that what this part of the bill is trying to say? Am I the only one who wants to poke her own eyes out reading this?

Rep. Dipshit attempted to explain himself this week:

“I believe one of the breakdowns in our society is that we have excluded the man out of all of these types of decisions. I understand that they feel like that is their body. I feel like it is a separate — what I call them is, is you’re a ‘host.’ And you know when you enter into a relationship, you’re going to be that host and so, you know, if you pre-know that, then take all precautions and don’t get pregnant. So that’s where I’m at. I’m like, hey, your body is your body and be responsible with it. But after you’re irresponsible then don’t claim, well, I can just go and do this with another body, when you’re the host and you invited that in.”

HUH? If you want us to be responsible, why all the backlash over birth control coverage? Why defund Planned Parenthood? And how the fuck does a mass of cells get to be a “person” but a living, breathing, woman is merely a “host.” Stop. Talking.

This is why men need to stop crafting legislation to control a woman’s body: they have no idea what the hell they’re talking about, they’re making no sense, and it’s none of their business to begin with.

You want to prevent abortions? Start with cheap, effective, accessible birth control. You want to help children? How about starting with the $100 billion in unpaid child support that exists in this country? Throw your passion to “protect life” into that, idiots. And leave us, and our bodies, the hell alone.

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