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
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432 comments Add your comment
GOP For the Goose
February 21st, 2012
4:27 pm
A gotcha moment in the Georgia legislature. Deny it all you want, GOPPERS, but you just got your azzes handed over to you.
OedipusTax
February 21st, 2012
4:27 pm
A walk through the ocean of the souls of the liberals here, all of them combined with the liberal readers of the AJC, would barely get one of your big toes wet.
Puleeze!!!
February 21st, 2012
4:30 pm
And I wouldn’t let you, never fear. Dem idiots, until you have been raped and forced to know there is sperm from some digusting man inside your body that makes you want to puke every single day, and then know you alone must make the decision of what to do, you have no right, whatsoever, to tell a woman what is righ tor what is wrong with her choice to do what is right for her. It is between she and her God and you and all men need to stay out of the argument!
ProudAmerican
February 21st, 2012
4:32 pm
Once again the democrats wasting tax dollars. The inmates are running the asylum!
They are the only ones dumb enough to equate killing half developed babies to preventing the pregnancy to begin with. Idiots.
Proud to be from Georgia
February 21st, 2012
4:37 pm
This just makes me stand up and shout to the heavens that I am once again from Georgia. What will the late night talk show host make of this. Are we a catholic state? Do we have a pope?
Hands Off My C$CK!!
February 21st, 2012
4:43 pm
Democrats can’t help themselves…
Hands Off My C$CK!!
February 21st, 2012
4:44 pm
Pretty soon OBama will require all health insurance companies to cover vasectomies… it’s birth control isn’t it? LOL.
Here we go down the slippery slope….
Harold Bashears, M.D., Ob-Gyn
February 21st, 2012
4:44 pm
Enter your comments here
Hands Off My C$CK!!
February 21st, 2012
4:45 pm
Hey Dems! Have ALL the abortions you want! just do it in the first 20 weeks…
Harold Bashears, M.D., Ob-Gyn
February 21st, 2012
4:45 pm
Those little pissants had it coming to them. Every one of them.
Hands Off My C$CK!!
February 21st, 2012
4:46 pm
WHAT!>!> Democrats AGAINST birth control (i.e., vasectomies)?
What I do with my c$ck is my business. Hands off Dumbocrats!
Dem idiots
February 21st, 2012
4:47 pm
Puleeze – once again, get an education before throwing up on this board…
Only a combined 5% of women getting abortions are due to rape, health reasons, or mental retardation, so your last argument has about a 5% validity.
As far as it “being my business”…read my post from 3:05pm. That’s on page 5…
Hands Off My C$CK!!
February 21st, 2012
4:50 pm
Abortion. My favorite form of birth control. Obama, make those insurance companies pay for them! Less Democrats is a good thing!
Darwin sure was right about natural selection!
Chrizomizide
February 21st, 2012
4:50 pm
“Thousands of children are deprived of birth”??? hahaha, I’ll remember that one next time I’m being intimate with myself.
Hands Off My C$CK!!
February 21st, 2012
4:52 pm
LOL Chrizomide.
How many children were deprived of birth every time Yasmin Neal swallows. Shameful.
African Americans for Newt
February 21st, 2012
4:54 pm
Wow! Two thoughts…..1) a large democrat voting block doesn’t even know what a vasectomy is which helps explain all the single mothers out there and 2) just like a democrat to think contraceptive measures (prevents the formation of an embryo-read your biology) is the same as killing an embryo. STUPID PEOPLE!
mark
February 21st, 2012
4:57 pm
Abortion on demand has killed millions of unborn children and for what reason convenience. This type of ethos leads to the dehumanization of the entire human race. Life becomes meaningless when we devalue it at any point. Take religion out of it and you still are faced with a morality which supposes that indiscriminate killing is ok. I believe in limited government and think on the whole that governments should stay out of peoples choices but anyone that does not see the epidemic problem with abortion on demand is living life with blinders on. Plus 20 weeks the fetus is a child does it matter to anyone on the pro choice side that they are killing human life?
Puleeze!!!
February 21st, 2012
5:01 pm
Dem – your mother had a choice. Why do you want other woman not to have one? When my third child was born, I watched the agony of a mother who had to give birth to a child with no brain. It was her choice. I would not have made that choice but I don’t deny her the right to make hers. You do. That is the biggest difference here. I personally know many people who are pro choice, but would give anything if there were no abortions. I am one of those. It is the choice to allow us to know what is right for us. I can’t tell you or your mom what is right for you, why do feel the need to do that to me? And hands off – your just sad.
Markus Justice
February 21st, 2012
5:01 pm
Satan and Democrats at work. A fetus is a person any fool knows that, but it takes sperm, egg and nature to create a fetus.
Dem idiots
February 21st, 2012
5:10 pm
Puleeze – maybe your mom should have gotten an abortion…think about that one.
honested
February 21st, 2012
5:11 pm
A few more pages.
Still no reason to justify why the gentleman from Athens should be wasting valuable legislative time on a stupid law that will be set aside by every single court that reviews it up to and including the Supreme Court.
What is it with you so called ‘con-servatives’ (would that be prisoners to a backward looking mindset?) that prevents you from holding tightly to your pet issues while ignoring the business to which the legislature is entrusted?
honested
February 21st, 2012
5:12 pm
dem idiots (would that be dem people from OTP?)
If she had, it wouldn’t matter.
Yet another worn out, hollow argument from a group that’s got nothing.
david c
February 21st, 2012
5:19 pm
We have a bunch of men in public office putting together bills on what women should do with their bodies…. it is about time that the women in office tell men what they should do !!!! I love it !!!!
DLink
February 21st, 2012
5:20 pm
Satans and Libruls, Publicans and Demoncrats and the Pope… This is simply outright awesome. Accept my applause – now, THIS is a show worth watching.
jaggar
February 21st, 2012
5:24 pm
A waste of taxpayer money! We have much more pressing issues that should be handled, but the democrats want to act like I*D*I*O*T*S. This is not even a comparison but these people are to S*T*U*P*I*D to know and they are voted into office? A vasectomy would compare to a woman tying her tubes not an abortion! Get to work and do something worthwhile please!
stopthemorons
February 21st, 2012
5:25 pm
I never knew that there are soooooooooo many in this state that lack the comprehension to fully understand this article. The more serious problem is that these folks with the comprehension problem are able to vote without an IQ test.
Your an idiot
February 21st, 2012
5:29 pm
Men not having the ability to have a child does not hurt a child. Abortion kills a living human being. What is the difference in having an abortion or smashing a newborn on the sidewalk. They will both feel pain and hopefully they will die the first time. Some late term abortions do not kill the fetus the first time. If a man has a vasectomy – no one is hurt.
JC
February 21st, 2012
5:30 pm
I love our free country that wants to regulate every thing we do….let’s keep giving up freedom. Are there not more important issues in the country than birth control…really. Congress is a joke.
Offender
February 21st, 2012
5:32 pm
I hope that crazy lady doesn’t push and try to make her new proposed law retroactive. The jail would be full of responsible guys who took it upon themselves to do a less evasive surgery instead of letting their wives go through it and risk more side effects. HEY GOVERNMENT!! Stay out of my pants!!
Dem Jackasses
February 21st, 2012
5:33 pm
Yasmin Neal is a complete idiot! Total waste of gov’t/taxpayer dollars. You mean to tell me that she actually gets paid to make that argument?
Concerned
February 21st, 2012
5:36 pm
As usual, let’s let the bright politicians divert attention from the real issue. The goal is not to control a woman’s reproductive system, the goal is to protect innocent life that cannot protect itself. You can believe whatever makes you feel better, but the ultimate truth is a fetus is a living human being. Unfortnuately, only a woman can get pregnant, so this particuar issue impacts women in a very personal way. But that does not change the impact that an abortion has on an innocent life. How about this for a diversion – let’s sterilize all politicians to ensure we don’t create yet another generation of public self servants.
Madmax
February 21st, 2012
5:37 pm
Nobama 2012.
JB
February 21st, 2012
5:44 pm
mark @ 4:57: abortion does not dehumanize us, nor is it an “epidemic.” What, is there a shortage of Americans or something now? If anything I believe the abortion issue is due to an OVERvaluing of human life to the point of fetishizing something that has not even come to being yet (clump of cells). And that fetishization comes from our complicated relationship with female sexuality.
But we are, after all, animals – and speaking of that, look at the way we systematically destroy other species with no regard for their lives or suffering. So much for “humanity.” (And I know most people automatically believe humans are more “valuable” than animals, but why? I’ve never heard a solid argument for why humans [or even clumps of human cells with no nervous systems] deserve mercy but fully grown animals are there to be treated as horrifically as we please.)
Anyway, this comes down to peoples’ fundamental worldviews, and I’m sure mine is very different than yours. But they are irreconcilable. So the answer is to craft public policy based on what we DO know and MUST agree on, which is that WOMEN are humans with their own minds and can make their own decisions. We’ll never resolve as a society the fetus issue, so we must leave that up to the person whose life will be impacted the most: the mother.
BOB FROM ACCOUT TEMPS
February 21st, 2012
6:02 pm
So the dems are now ready to admit that abortion is used for birth control
Mark
February 21st, 2012
6:08 pm
Enter your comments here
Towerclimber
February 21st, 2012
6:10 pm
When ever women tout their womanhood, they say “only we can create life”. well, you can’t have it both ways.
since you’re in control of creating life, you also have to be RESPONSIBLE for that life. no, you can’t kill it and make the excuse that ‘it’s not really life’..that’s BS and we all know it.
Any woman that’s had an abortion knows it.
This argument isn’t about control, it’s about being responsible. Women already have the right to choose if they want to get pregnant or not, in most cases. They just refuse to accept the responsibility for casual sex. but you know something? that sure doesn’t stop them from going to a judge and getting child support does it?
how about this, do away with the requirement for child support and remove tax payer funding for abortions (after all, all the taxpayers didn’t poke you in the gonch), and you can do as you like! no argument from me.
Till then? yeah, we’re going to fight about it.
Mark
February 21st, 2012
6:23 pm
It goes without saying but just to be sure, everyone realizes this bill is not serious nor meant to pass, just the author’s attempt to spark debate. Granted maybe not the best use of taxpayer time/money..
BTW I think 20 weeks is a good compromise for abortion limits. I’d vote for that. FYI I’m a small-business-owning democrat who likes guns.
Sandy
February 21st, 2012
6:25 pm
Actually Planned Parenthood provides free vasectomies. Why is the Catholic Church not up in arms over that? Why do they not fight against insurance coverage for vasectomies? Why is it always the women they go after?
Mama Says
February 21st, 2012
6:44 pm
Its good to Ms. Neal has the interest of Clayton County as a priority.
Clayton has an out of control crime rate, can’t pay it’s employees and has a high rate of domestic abuse. Good to see she has identified the root cause of all the blight.
Typical first term rep. With no experience making a name for herself with her party.
No different from Victor Hill. Ex police officer who never really accomplished anything.
Try this Ms. Neal
The government doesn’t pay for the male procedure nor does the procedure KILL a life with a beating heart.
Instead of yelling about women’s rights why not just say proudly that liberal women want the right to kill a child because it is a burden to them, that way we can have an honest debate. Responsibility or murder
Mark in ATL
February 21st, 2012
6:46 pm
…..isn’t this state government something to be proud of…
African Americans for Newt
February 21st, 2012
6:50 pm
Sandy, what does the Catholic Church have to do with your planned parenthood argument? I believe the complaint of the church was they were being forced to cover something that was against their beliefs. I imagine if Obama forced them to cover vasectomies for free they would be just as strongly opposed. Why do women always feel they are the victims? Sometimes all they understand is a “leg of lamb”
AGJ
February 21st, 2012
6:50 pm
Getting a vasectomy is equivalent to getting a hysterectomy. Nobody is trying to ban hysterectomies… Get a clue
Fed Up
February 21st, 2012
6:51 pm
how dare these elected officials waste taxpayer money on this dribble. Wonder why the rest of the country views Georgia as backward and laughable? Just look at this gross abuse of the public microphone! Pathetic, I am so ashamed of our representatives, they should be too. Signed, the person who pays the politicians salary, aka, your boss!
African Americans for Newt
February 21st, 2012
6:52 pm
Mama says, wow…very nicely stated!
AGJ
February 21st, 2012
6:59 pm
Even going with a less intensive surgery would be tubal ligation. I don’t think I’ve heard anyone in congress trying to ban that??? Vasectomy cuts off the sperm. Tubal ligation for women cuts off the egg… Dems are so petty.
Phil
February 21st, 2012
7:03 pm
It must be really hard to ignore the other side’s true feelings on an issue. Conservatives want to protect the life of what we feel is a child’s life. The equivalent of men being prevented from receiving Vasectomies would be to ban birth control. Keep spinning and yelling that we are stupid and attacking women. At least I can point to the true disagreement…When life is formed. You think its at birth and I think its at conception. But I’m sure my logical response will just make you angry.
Honest Abe
February 21st, 2012
7:08 pm
Honesty? Really? Really? Really?, well…..Abortion should be banned under EVERY circumstance!!! Yes it is between a woman and God and they will answer to the father for the sin. I pass no judgement, rather I pass a simple truth, it is murder and it is wrong. If a woman gets raped, it is better for her to have the child and give it up for adoption. Through God all things are made known. He will take those circumstances and make the best of them. Just look at Einstein, Jesse Jackson, and the many other people conceived through rape. Also, look at all the physiological effects abortion has on women, higher risks of cancer, etopic pregnancies, and other harsh diseases and illnesses. As for Vasectomies, give me a break. As for physicians terminating pregnancies, they will have to answer unto the father for their sins, just as I will have to answer for mine.
Palin
February 21st, 2012
7:10 pm
Since when is a vasectomy a parallel to abortion? Last I checked it (along with the more severe procedure of castration) was the rough equivalent of a tubal ligation or a hysterectomy. The key difference of all these measures from abortion is that they are all PREVENTATIVE measures to getting (someone) pregnant.
The whole notion of a woman’s right to choose at the point of abortion is just downright comical. A fetus isn’t just some inanimate ragdoll up until some arbitrary timeframe that judges and legislators deem it a living human being. It is a human being from the point of conception onward and should be given the same rights any other human being is given. Namely, the right to not have its life abrubtly ended at someone else’s behest.
I totally understand scenarios where the health of the mother is at jeopardy if the pregnancy is allowed to continue. Even then it makes the morality of the issue a difficult thing to consider, but otherwise we’re flagrantly violating the rights of an innocent by prematurely ending its life.
Rape victims that ended up pregnant? That’s one sordid hell that I can’t even imagine going through, but I can’t for the life of me justify ending an innocent’s life for the crimes of the father or even to spare the victim of the drawn out emotional scarring. It just isn’t right.
If women are indeed so stuck on their right to choose whether or not not to have babies then they should get their tubes tied. Of all the surgically preventative measures available, it is the easiest to successfully reverse and so much more morally sensible compared to abortion. Hell, have your daughters go through it to if you’re worried about the early years.
It may suck that nature didn’t make men and women biologically equal, but that doesn’t mean we should punish innocent fetuses just because women got the short end of the evolutionary stick
Sickened
February 21st, 2012
7:12 pm
Vasectomy is a legitimate form of birth control. Killing a baby is not. Any woman who would have an abortion after 20 weeks (unless there is a true medical reason) is either misinformed or incredibly selfish.
Steve
February 21st, 2012
7:12 pm
Wow. The ignorance of Democrazies is shining thru brighter than ever.
A man getting a Vasectomy is not even close to the equivalent of aborting a 20 week pregnancy. It would be equivalent to a women getting a Hysterectomy but nothing more. Democrats are absolutely moronic.
How about this .. stop using sex as a weapon to trap men or just having fun without thinking of the ramifications of a possible pregnancy. In other words, become responsible. Same goes for men who think banging anything that breathes makes them cool. Grow up!