Alabama Lawmaker Protests Abortion Restrictions by Introducing Bill Requiring Men to Undergo Vasectomy after Third Child

An Alabama state lawmaker has introduced a bill imposing restrictions on the reproductive rights of men as a statement against abortion restrictions.

Representative Rolanda Hollis, a Democrat from Birmingham, proposed a law that would require men to obtain a vasectomy within one month of their 50th birthday or the birth of their third biological child, whichever occurs first. Men would also be required to pay for the procedure out of their own pockets.

“Under existing law, there are no restrictions on the reproductive rights of men,” the bill reads.

“The Vasectomy bill is to help with the reproductive system. This is to neutralize the abortion ban bill,” Hollis wrote in a tweet. “The responsibility is not always on the women. It takes 2 to tangle. This will help prevent pregnancy as well as abortion of unwanted children.”

Hollis was referring to Alabama’s near-total ban on abortions, which was scheduled to take effect in November but was struck down by a federal court the month before. The Human Life Protection Act bans almost all abortions, including in cases of rape and incest, and includes and exception only for when the mother’s life is in danger.

Supporters of the ban said their goal was that court challenges of the law would lead the case to the newly conservative majority on the Supreme Court, which could use it to reconsider Roe vs. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court case that legalized abortion nationwide, and Planned Parenthood vs. Casey, which upheld the right to abortion.

“As we have stated before, the state’s objective is to advance our case to the U.S. Supreme Court” where Alabama intends to prove the two cases were “wrongly decided and that the Constitution does not prohibit states from protecting unborn children from abortion,” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a statement.