Democratic women seek a state ban on vasectomies for men
This afternoon, the House Judiciary (Non-Civil) Committee will take up HB 954, a measure that would prohibit abortions on women who are more than 20 weeks pregnant. Current law prohibits abortions after the second trimester, or about 24 weeks.
The bill sponsored by Doug McKillip, R-Athens, asserts that 20 weeks is the point at which a fetus can begin to feel pain. The measure also attempts to tighten “life of the mother” exceptions to abortion:
No such condition shall be deemed to exist if it is based on a diagnosis or claim of a mental or emotional condition of the pregnant woman or that the pregnant woman will purposefully engage in conduct which she intends to result in her death or in substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function.
In response, House Democrats have scheduled a 3 p.m. Wednesday hearing at the state Capitol, to propose a bill that would ban Georgia males from seeking vasectomies. From the press release:
“Thousands of children are deprived of birth in this state every year because of the lack of state regulation over vasectomies,” said Rep. Yasmin Neal, author of the bill. “It is patently unfair that men can avoid unwanted fatherhood by presuming that their judgment over such matters is more valid than the judgment of the General Assembly, while women’s ability to decide is constantly up for debate throughout the United States.”
House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams added, “The Republican attack on women’s reproductive rights is unconscionable. What is more deplorable is the hypocrisy of HB 954’s author. If we follow his logic, we believe it is the obligation of this General Assembly to assert an equally invasive state interest in the reproductive habits of men and substitute the will of the government over the will of adult men.”
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
For instant updates, follow me on Twitter, or connect with me on Facebook.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
432 comments Add your comment
CTW
February 21st, 2012
3:20 pm
I know the whole race thing isnt in there – I asked Billy Graham about it after my mom said it was in the Bible that two people of different races cant be together when I brought someone home of a different color than me.
My point was, that lawmakers twist their own personal beliefs to fit their own agenda and pawn it to their constituants and deem it appropriate. Obviously, vasectomies will never be illegal and abortions will always have stipulations, just simply due to the fact that the majority of lawmakers are male.
Carole
February 21st, 2012
3:21 pm
Raidbeater
Carole – Wow.
Did you just somehow elude that Jesus is pro “womens medical procedure” (abortion)?
I’m going to love to see the long drawn out justification.
+++++++++
Please use glasses the next time you read one of my posts. If I was going to say that I would have outright.
Raiderbeater
February 21st, 2012
3:23 pm
Carole – so since you brought up Jesus. What do you think his opinion would be?
Harold Bashears, M.D., Ob-Gyn
February 21st, 2012
3:23 pm
I believe many of you are missing the point. It is irrelevant whether you believe a fetus is a “life” or if it feels pain. That is true at any stage of gestation (yes, even up to, and in some cases after, nine months).
If it is inside of and unsustainable apart from another person (the mother) it is part of the mother, and the decision to continue or terminate the pregnancy is one that must be left to the mother subject to the medical judgement of her physician.
This is established law, and there is little or nothing the Georgia Legislature can do to affect it.
There is simply no point in debating the “pain” issue. I would concede that a fetus feels pain at 33 weeks, but if I deemed it necessary to prevent harm to my patient I would terminate the pregnancy at any point.
Raiderbeater
February 21st, 2012
3:29 pm
Harold. You may be a well educated MD (as you have pointed out), but you just issued a personal opinion mixed with medical knowledge. Is a child after it is born dependant on anyone? Can it sustain itself alone? No…just like the baby inside the mother. Either side of the birth canal a child needs help to survive.
hnbc
February 21st, 2012
3:30 pm
Ms. Neal & Ms. Abrams,
Go Ladies! You two rock! What a wonderful idea. It’s time that men stopped getting by with making babies with danged few consequences.
Keep up the good work!
DILLIGAF
February 21st, 2012
3:31 pm
Yasmin Neal should be jailed for excessive stupidity and waste of taxpayer’s money.
What a moron.
Seriously?
February 21st, 2012
3:32 pm
What an immature response from the Democrats. I can never understand, with all the other forms of birth control, why some woman choose to use abortion. Around 5% of abortions are performed on women that were raped, are at risk medically, or have some form of retardation, what is the excuse for the rest of these women?
Raiderbeater
February 21st, 2012
3:32 pm
Making this into a man vs. Woman debate? My wife is more adamant than me that it is murder.
Sandy
February 21st, 2012
3:36 pm
This is a joke, right?
kimmer
February 21st, 2012
3:37 pm
Funny how the lib crowd can get so worked up over individual rights but then rarely if ever express any concern or sympathy for the rights of innocent human beings that are killed most of which just to avoid inconveniencing their mothers. Why are these people literally a non-entity to them?
Dem idiots
February 21st, 2012
3:37 pm
Sandy, I sure do hope so…
Raiderbeater
February 21st, 2012
3:38 pm
Talking about abortion in general. The conversation had strayed from the birth control issue.
Real American
February 21st, 2012
3:38 pm
LOL @ the wingnuts
reddog
February 21st, 2012
3:38 pm
And Charlie Brown said, “but Mrs. Donovan, isn’t there a huge (no pun intended) difference between a man’s sperm and an unborn child?” To which his democratic teacher responded “Wah wah wah wah waaaa wah waaaa!”
Raiderbeater
February 21st, 2012
3:40 pm
kimmer – Selfishness. I have no delusions either. Most “Republican” families are pro-choice when it gets down to it….which is sad. The old saying is you’re one unplanned preganancy away from being secretly pro-choice.
People are shallow, hollow, and selfish all at once.
Reality Dawg
February 21st, 2012
3:41 pm
Total insanity by the Socialist party oh sorry Democract partyl!
JohnD
February 21st, 2012
3:41 pm
@harold-
Correct – established law in Georgia is that the mother has a decision to continue or terminate.
And I’d ask that you allow we remove the scenario regarding ‘danger to the life of the mother’ – because you introduce a condition where medical opinion indicates a risk to the patient.
However – I believe you are missing the point. To argue that ‘unsustainable’ apart from another person is intellectually dishonest. Because, if the fetus is sustainable in a nicq on life-support systems AND has a statistically significant likelihood of maturing and thriving – well now it’s really a question of how much of an inconvenience the mother is willing to tolerate. At that point – the mother is making a choice that no other individual has a legal right to make for another person in any other medical scenario. In addition – it ignores any ‘right’ of a father who may wish to keep the baby.
If a 10-yr old crash victim is on life support – and the predominant opinion of medical experts is that the child can live in a wheelchair with impaired ability – but as a functioning adult. The father wants to press on and care for the child. The mother doesn’t. Why shouldn’t the mother have the right to unilaterally terminate life support?
JohnD
February 21st, 2012
3:41 pm
It’s just inconsistent
Dem idiots
February 21st, 2012
3:42 pm
It’s funny how Dems will fight til the end for a murderer to be taken off death row, but the next day fight to abort unborn babies…
Irony?
yes i have a political science degree
February 21st, 2012
3:42 pm
This article like the vasectomy bill are meant for nothing but to stir up controversy. Here are some basic facts republicans believe abortion is murder, democrats don’t. It is all a basis of morality. Vasectomies have almost nothing to do with morality. It is a prevention method. If the democrats here wanted to make a valid comparison they would be comparing vasectomies to getting tubes tied or birth control, not abortions which happens after someone gets pregnant, not before. This is clearly an apples to oranges comparison aimed to cause controversy.
honested
February 21st, 2012
3:43 pm
It’s nearly 4:00.
Does that mean the General Assembly has stopped wasting taxpayer funds on unConstitutional bills for the day?
Raiderbeater
February 21st, 2012
3:43 pm
To make it simpler. If a mother gives birth and smothers the child it should “be her right” as a mother since the child is hers and is 100% dependent on others.
Right?
Daniel
February 21st, 2012
3:45 pm
The BEST decision that I made after my divorce was to GET a Vasectomy. I had my two kids and I knew that I did not want any more. So I did get it done 1 week after my divorce was final. NO more kids in my future.
Dylan
February 21st, 2012
3:46 pm
Is she retarded?
David
February 21st, 2012
3:48 pm
Andrea Sneiderman and Henry Neuman are on trial for murdering Andrea’s husband. Why aren’t you liberals protesting that – saying that the government should stay out of their business. If they wanted him dead that’s their right? Someone please explain.
Bob Elliott
February 21st, 2012
3:49 pm
It’s is past time to get Federal and State government and politicians out of sex, abortions, contraception, vasectomies…………..and even healthcare. All of this hyperbole only conceals their lust for power and chronic over-spending which has resulted in a $16 trillion National debt and $5.00 per gallon gasoline. The whole gaggle of them should be voted out of office. People should be responsible for themselves and their own actions.
Puleeze!!!
February 21st, 2012
3:49 pm
This is not apples to oranges. The point is if you are going to take away awoman’s right to do what she feels is right for her body, then to be fair, take away the man’s right for what he thinks is right. To put it another way, if you are going to FORCE a woman to have a baby, then force a man not to create said baby. That’s all. It is tit for tat, but it was started by men who seem hell bent on keeping control over woman, through their vajaja’s. Guess what guys, that boat will not float anymroe!
Dylan
February 21st, 2012
3:50 pm
How is a vasectomy in any way close to an abortion?
This isn’t a score for women it’s five points taken away from them.
DawgDad
February 21st, 2012
3:50 pm
Ms. Neal has never heard of a hysterectomy? She’s comparing apples and oranges.
Anonymous
February 21st, 2012
3:51 pm
Although I don’t agree with the Republican bill, the Democrats logic is flawed. The Republicans aren’t putting forth a bill to outlaw females having their tubes tied.
Carole
February 21st, 2012
3:52 pm
Raiderbeater
Carole – so since you brought up Jesus. What do you think his opinion would be?
+++++++
A what would Jesus do question, cool. I think that Jesus is the only one who knows the hearts of men and women. I believe that he died for our sins because obviously he knew we would. I believe that God put a man to death for spilling his seed (Gen 38:9-10) which is no different than putting on a condom or “pulling out.” So when people want to judge a woman for having an abortion, I think they need to leave the judging to God.
Rex Dogma
February 21st, 2012
3:53 pm
the republicans are clearly Stupid. THIS WHOLE STATE IS GOING TO HELL WITH ONE OF THE WORST ECONOMIES, HIGHTES ECONOMIC STRESS, HIGHEST FORECLOSURES, WHAT ARE YOU PEOPLE DOING. THE WHOLE LEGISLATURE IS JUST PLAIN STUPID. WERE THE LAUGHING STOCK OF THIS COUNTRY.
Dem idiots
February 21st, 2012
3:53 pm
Puleeze – get an education before vomiting on this board…
WTFrankenstein
February 21st, 2012
3:54 pm
Interesting how the Republican definition of a human being is 10 cells clumped together.
That explains a lot. A lot really.
DawgDad
February 21st, 2012
3:56 pm
Puleeze — It’s beyond time to REMOVE government from our health care. They should regulate production and labeling for product safety, truth in advertising, and consumer awareness. They should regulate insurance markets for underwriting standards and proper financing, but get out of the mandate business. This is America, it is SUPPOSED to be the land of the free and the home of the brave. It’s becoming the land of the beholden and the home of the victim.
Dylan
February 21st, 2012
3:57 pm
@ Rex
Actually California and cities like Detroit are the laughing stocks.
Harold Bashears, M.D., Ob-Gyn
February 21st, 2012
4:05 pm
Raiderbeater: Are you advocating for an expansion of reproductive rights to include the right to terminate the life of an infant post-natal?
TheTruth
February 21st, 2012
4:09 pm
The reason I am a centrist is because bipartisan government does NOT work, just look at Ancient Rome and I am for WAY less government. Point in case….this article and the left-winged crazed legislation they want to pass. Ban Vasectomies, kill the porn industry, if women can’t do it, mean can’t either…blah blah blah…..Abortion is murder. The book of Jeremiah implies God knew us BEFORE we were even concieved. …on another note, Republicans are probably having a field day with this, but are losing sight on the fact they have no real contender for the white house. We are ALL SCREWED!!! Well – going to get my vasectomy tomorrow and if a democrat is there, I’m gonna kick em in the NUTS and give them one!!!..lol
DLink
February 21st, 2012
4:09 pm
Daddy always told me, “Boy, I brought you into this world, and I can take you out of it.” I guess momma got that choice first. I don’t think I could ever live with having killed my mother during childbirth, so, I’m glad things worked out for us.
Trivia moment: Did you know suicide is illegal in two states? North and South Dakota. Apparently they’re having trouble enforcing it.
For people trying to find the commonality between the two bills… They both would further government regulations about what you can do with your own body. I’ve had a blast reading the comments, though, thank you everyone.
DJ Sniper, you deserve a drink on the house. *slides drink to DJ Sniper*
Harold Bashears, M.D., Ob-Gyn
February 21st, 2012
4:09 pm
JohnD:
I do not mean toargue, and your point is well taken.
Since you specifically addressed the issue of how and whom decides when life-sustaining measures are appropriate for an individual who lacks capacity to make the decision for himself/herself, I will remind you of an important distinction. In your hypothetical there is an individual who was viable and may or may not continue to be. Reproductive rights deal with the rights of a woman who is pregnant. She is the patient, and her medical needs are paramount in this equation. I your scenario, there is no moral dilema in which one life may need to be spared in order for another to have an improved likelihood of medical wellness.
Marilyn Mitchell
February 21st, 2012
4:09 pm
I would prefer forced sterilization of the men who obsess over abortions.
Godawgs75
February 21st, 2012
4:13 pm
If unplanned children are such a bother and should be elimanted then we should be able to do the same with some of the ignorant ones on here. Use Birth control, condoms, ect. If you take a risk, it is your own fault if you get pregnant. People really want to argue about 20 weeks? That is a shame, if your having sex, take a preg test, or is that against a womans right too? Just like the left wing liberals to think, do what ever you want and have no consequence for your actions.
AstonishedbyStupidity
February 21st, 2012
4:14 pm
Representatives Abrams and Neal are surely two of the most ignorant people ever to be elected to any position. Regardless of what you might think about McKillip’s bill, suggesting vasectomy’s are similar to aborting a fertilized egg, is imbecilic. It’s embarrassing to read stories, like this, that very accurately demonstrate the unsuitability for office of the majority of our representatives. Maybe as my congressman suggested, the Capitol will tip over and solve these problems. The comments of your readers does, however, go a long to determining why these people get elected.
Puleeze!!!
February 21st, 2012
4:16 pm
Pointing out the reasoning behind this bill is not vomiting, as you say. Your inability to discuss shows the reason you can’t understand. Start thinking with the head above your shoulders and keep your laws out of my vajaja. Is that simple enough for you?
Mark
February 21st, 2012
4:18 pm
And when they force women to view an ultrasound before deciding on terminating a pregnancy, so should men be forced to view an ultrasound of their limp vas deferens.
Papa Pink
February 21st, 2012
4:22 pm
Here is the goverment again messing with our freedoms. What is the purpose behind this bill?
GotToBeKidding
February 21st, 2012
4:22 pm
Yasmin Neal refused to tell citizens where she stands on any of the issues addressed in the 2010 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests from Vote Smart, national media, and prominent political leaders.
Dem idiots
February 21st, 2012
4:25 pm
Puleeze – trust me…I wouldn’t come near your vajaja!
GotToBeKidding
February 21st, 2012
4:26 pm
She is single and looks gay so men being able to produce should be of no interest to her.