“Although HB 4260 is satirical, there is nothing funny about current health care restrictions for women,” says Rep. Jessica Farrar
In a satirical response to anti-choice legislation, a Democratic state representative in Texas has filed a bill that would regulate men’s “masturbatory emissions.”Â
House Bill 4260, filed Friday by Houston Rep. Jessica Farrar, would impose a $100 fine for emissions “outside of a woman’s vagina or a health or medical facility,” which would be considered “an act against an unborn child, and failing to preserve the sanctity life.”Â
“Although HB 4260 is satirical, there is nothing funny about current health care restrictions for women and the very real legislation that is proposed every legislative session,” Farrar wrote Saturday on Facebook. “Women are not laughing at state-imposed regulations and obstacles that interfere with their ability to legally access safe healthcare, and subject them to fake science and medically unnecessary procedures. Texans deserve to be treated with the same amount of respect when making healthcare decisions, regardless of their gender.”Â
Republican Texas lawmakers have again filed a slew of anti-choice bills this year, including proposals to make abortion a felony,  require hospitals to bury or cremate fetal remains, and allow doctors to lie to women about their pregnancies.Â
HB 4260 would encourage men to remain “fully abstinent,” and “masturbatory emissions” would have to be stored for conception purposes.
Vasectomies, Viagra and colonoscopies would be strictly regulated, with men required to undergo “medically unnecessary” rectal exams and MRIs before receiving them, and barred from suing doctors who refuse to provide them based on religious beliefs. The state would also have to create a booklet called “A Man’s Right to Know,” similar to “A Woman’s Right To Know,” which Texas mandates that women receive before terminating pregnancies.Â
The Houston Chronicle and the Austin Statesman have more on the bill, which you can read in its entirety here.Â