Latest news with #ContraceptionBeginsatErectionAct
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Brickbat: Start From the Beginning
Mississippi state Sen. Bradford Blackmon (D–Jackson) has introduced a bill that would make it "unlawful for a person to discharge genetic material without the intent to fertilize an embryo." He calls it the "Contraception Begins at Erection Act." It would impose fines on violators, including $10,000 for a third time offense. "All across the country, especially here in Mississippi, the vast majority of bills relating to contraception and/or abortion focus on the woman's role when men are fifty percent of the equation," Blackmon said in a statement. "This bill highlights that fact and brings the man's role into the conversation. People can get up in arms and call it absurd but I can't say that bothers me." The post Brickbat: Start From the Beginning appeared first on
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mississippi bill proposes surgical castration for some sex offenders
JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – A proposed penalty to Mississippi's rape law may punish certain criminals in ways that raise constitutional issues. Under Mississippi law, adults convicted of statutory rape of a child under the age of 14 were subject to anywhere between 20 years to life in prison. Based on a recent bill from Mississippi Representative Fred Shanks (R-District 60), a proposed penalty for the crime potentially may also involve surgical sterilization. In Mississippi House Bill 1028, any individual found guilty of rape or statutory rape of one under the age of 13 could be ordered to be surgically castrated in addition to any other criminal penalties. The defendant's failure to comply could result in additional charges and time in prison, up to five years. Judges have the discretion to add surgical castration as part of the convicted person's punishment. The punishment is contingent on a medical expert's determination that the procedure is appropriate to implement against the offender. A licensed physician would perform the castration before the inmate's release from prison. Mississippi state lawmaker introduces 'Contraception Begins at Erection Act' with fines for masturbation The language, timeline and elements of Shanks's bill are very similar to a law passed by the Louisiana Legislature in 2024. The Louisiana law explicitly prohibits minor defendants from being surgically castrated. HB 1028 does not include similar language. If the bill becomes law, it would likely face two main constitutional challenges in the court system. In constitutional law, fundamental rights are liberties so important that the government cannot infringe on them unless it is necessary to achieve a compelling interest. This analysis is known as strict scrutiny. This is traditionally interpreted by the courts as meaning the method is the most practical and least restrictive way of achieving the governmental objective. The fundamental right most clearly at issue here is the right to procreate. The U.S. Supreme Court previously held laws mandating sterilization as unconstitutional and that such laws should be reviewed under strict scrutiny. The government's method of protecting children from sexual abuse – surgically castrating certain offenders- may conflict with the rights of said offenders to have children. Though the right to procreate is not absolute, other methods exist that will likely have the same effect of protecting children. For instance, laws related to chemical castrations exist in the United States. This less obtrusive and effective option may show that surgical castration is not the only or the best way for the state to protect children. This casts doubt on whether HB 1028 could withstand a strict scrutiny analysis if challenged in court. The case also impresses the issue of whether the punishment itself is unlawful. The biggest issue is whether the provision violates the U.S. Constitution's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. The U.S. Supreme Court has not ruled on whether chemical or surgical castration violates the Eighth Amendment. However, federal and state courts are amenable to novel methods of punishing individuals for crimes. In Mississippi, the penalties for statutory rape vary depending on the age of the victim and the suspect. As the law is currently written, you have to be a teenager or older to be charged with the crime. Below is an overview of the rape laws as they stand in Mississippi. Statutory Rape: A person 17 years or older having sexual intercourse with a child who: Is at least 14 but under 16 years old; and Is 36 or more months younger than the person; and Is not the person's spouse A person of any age having sexual intercourse with a child who: Is under 14 years old; and Is 24 or more months younger than the person Penalty: Age 13-18: Discretionary imprisonment, fine or other sentence by the court Age 18-21: Imprisonment up to 5 years, a fine up to $5,000 or both Age 21 or older: Imprisonment up to 30 years, a fine up to $10,000, or both for the first offense Imprisonment up to 40 years for subsequent offenses Age 18 or older with a victim under 14: Imprisonment for life or a term not less than 20 years Forcible Sexual Intercourse: Sexual intercourse with any person without consent or by administering a substance that prevents resistance Penalty: Life imprisonment if prescribed by the jury or a term determined by the court Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Abcarian: No one polices men's bodies the way we police women's bodies
While we've been distracted by wildfire tragedies, and the dizzying stream of Project 2025-inspired directives flowing from the Oval Office, we cannot forget that the Republican-led war on women's reproductive rights shows no signs of waning. In fact, it's heating up again. Last week, a Democratic Mississippi state senator with a wry sense of humor introduced a law meant to call attention to the absurdity of America's enduring efforts to control women's bodies. Sen. Bradford Blackmon, 36, introduced the 'Contraception Begins at Erection Act,' which would criminalize ejaculation — 'the discharge of genetic material' — without the 'intent to fertilize an embryo.' Yes, it's silly. But he has a point. Why should women shoulder all the responsibility for unwanted pregnancies? Without men ejaculating irresponsibly, after all, there would be none. In a written statement, Blackmon noted that the 2022 Supreme Court case that reversed women's right to abortion originated in Mississippi, where it is now illegal to have an abortion unless the life of the mother is at risk, or the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest that has been reported to law enforcement — as if, say, a violated adolescent is going to run straight to the police. In 2023, a 13-year-old girl in Clarkesville, Miss., who was raped by a stranger was forced to give birth because her mother could not afford to take her to the nearest abortion provider, 600 miles away in Chicago. She started seventh grade as a new mother. This protects children? 'The filing of this bill is to point out the double standards in legislation,' said Blackmon. 'You have male-dominated legislatures in Mississippi and all over the country that pass laws that dictate what a woman can and cannot do with her body.' His words echo a famous 2018 exchange between then-U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing. 'Can you think of any laws that give government the power to make decisions about the male body?' Harris asked. Kavanaugh stuttered, then admitted he could not. Over the last week or so, President Trump has signaled to the antiabortion wing of his base that despite his campaign promises, he will not leave abortion regulation to the states. On Friday, he revived a slew of antiabortion policies that President Biden had overturned. Trump reversed a Biden order that government agencies 'protect and expand' access to abortion care, including medication abortion, birth control and emergency contraception. He has also reinstated the Reagan-era 'Mexico City policy,' which Democratic presidents ritually suspend and Republicans reinstate. The policy forbids foreign groups that receive U.S. funding from providing or promoting family planning that includes abortion — even if the funds they use for that purpose do not come from the United States. (Critics call it a global gag rule.) These are not benign policy shifts; people die when denied access to abortion care, and studies show that when the Mexico City policy is in effect, contraceptive use and family planning diminish overall. In 2022, a National Academy of Sciences study found that the Mexico City policy is associated with higher maternal- and child-mortality rates, and higher HIV rates, worldwide. During Trump's first presidency, according to the academy, the policy resulted in approximately 108,000 maternal and child deaths and 360,000 new HIV infections. In 2011, a Stanford University study found that the number of abortions in 20 African countries actually rose when the Mexico City policy was revived during the second George W. Bush administration, after having been suspended during the Clinton administration. Less access to contraception, the researchers theorized, may have led women to substitute abortion for birth control. Last week, Trump also pardoned 23 antiabortion extremists, including some who were convicted of violently invading and blockading an abortion clinic in Washington, D.C., in 2020, forcing it to temporarily shut down. Trump described the radicals — some of whom were in federal prison — as 'peaceful pro-life protesters.' 'They should not have been prosecuted,' he said. 'Many of them are elderly people.' If they were so fragile, how did they manage to injure clinic workers as they used bicycle locks, ropes, furniture and their bodies to barricade the clinic doors? You may recall a bizarre footnote to this case: protest instigator Lauren Handy, 31, was found to have five fetuses in her refrigerator. She and her fellow extremists are now free to obstruct abortion clinics again. As Slate legal analyst Dahlia Lithwick put it last week: 'Anybody who decided to take the law into their own hands is just fine as long as they were doing it for something that Donald Trump likes.' Bluesky: @ Threads: @rabcarian If it's in the news right now, the L.A. Times' Opinion section covers it. Sign up for our weekly opinion newsletter. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
29-01-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Column: No one polices men's bodies the way we police women's bodies
While we've been distracted by wildfire tragedies, and the dizzying stream of Project 2025-inspired directives flowing from the Oval Office, we cannot forget that the Republican-led war on women's reproductive rights shows no signs of waning. In fact, it's heating up again. Last week, a Democratic Mississippi state senator with a wry sense of humor introduced a law meant to call attention to the absurdity of America's enduring efforts to control women's bodies. Sen. Bradford Blackmon, 36, introduced the 'Contraception Begins at Erection Act,' which would criminalize ejaculation — 'the discharge of genetic material' — without the 'intent to fertilize an embryo.' Yes, it's silly. But he has a point. Why should women shoulder all the responsibility for unwanted pregnancies? Without men ejaculating irresponsibly, after all, there would be none. In a written statement, Blackmon noted that the 2022 Supreme Court case that reversed women's right to abortion originated in Mississippi, where it is now illegal to have an abortion unless the life of the mother is at risk, or the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest that has been reported to law enforcement — as if, say, a violated adolescent is going to run straight to the police. In 2023, a 13-year-old girl in Clarkesville, Miss., who was raped by a stranger was forced to give birth because her mother could not afford to take her to the nearest abortion provider, 600 miles away in Chicago. She started seventh grade as a new mother. This protects children? 'The filing of this bill is to point out the double standards in legislation,' said Blackmon. 'You have male-dominated legislatures in Mississippi and all over the country that pass laws that dictate what a woman can and cannot do with her body.' His words echo a famous 2018 exchange between then-U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing. 'Can you think of any laws that give government the power to make decisions about the male body?' Harris asked. Kavanaugh stuttered, then admitted he could not. Over the last week or so, President Trump has signaled to the antiabortion wing of his base that despite his campaign promises, he will not leave abortion regulation to the states. On Friday, he revived a slew of antiabortion policies that President Biden had overturned. Trump reversed a Biden order that government agencies 'protect and expand' access to abortion care, including medication abortion, birth control and emergency contraception. He has also reinstated the Reagan-era 'Mexico City policy,' which Democratic presidents ritually suspend and Republicans reinstate. The policy forbids foreign groups that receive U.S. funding from providing or promoting family planning that includes abortion — even if the funds they use for that purpose do not come from the United States. (Critics call it a global gag rule.) These are not benign policy shifts; people die when denied access to abortion care, and studies show that when the Mexico City policy is in effect, contraceptive use and family planning diminish overall. In 2022, a National Academy of Sciences study found that the Mexico City policy is associated with higher maternal- and child-mortality rates, and higher HIV rates, worldwide. During Trump's first presidency, according to the academy, the policy resulted in approximately 108,000 maternal and child deaths and 360,000 new HIV infections. In 2011, a Stanford University study found that the number of abortions in 20 African countries actually rose when the Mexico City policy was revived during the second George W. Bush administration, after having been suspended during the Clinton administration. Less access to contraception, the researchers theorized, may have led women to substitute abortion for birth control. Last week, Trump also pardoned 23 antiabortion extremists, including some who were convicted of violently invading and blockading an abortion clinic in Washington, D.C., in 2020, forcing it to temporarily shut down. Trump described the radicals — some of whom were in federal prison — as 'peaceful pro-life protesters.' 'They should not have been prosecuted,' he said. 'Many of them are elderly people.' If they were so fragile, how did they manage to injure clinic workers as they used bicycle locks, ropes, furniture and their bodies to barricade the clinic doors? You may recall a bizarre footnote to this case: protest instigator Lauren Handy, 31, was found to have five fetuses in her refrigerator. She and her fellow extremists are now free to obstruct abortion clinics again. As Slate legal analyst Dahlia Lithwick put it last week: 'Anybody who decided to take the law into their own hands is just fine as long as they were doing it for something that Donald Trump likes.' Bluesky: @ Threads: @rabcarian
Buzz Feed
28-01-2025
- Politics
- Buzz Feed
A Bill That Would Ban Men From Masturbating Unless It's To Make A Baby Has Been Proposed, And Well, Well, Well, How The Turntables...
Well, men of America, buckle up. Mississippi Senator Bradford Blackmon has sponsored a bill called the " Contraception Begins at Erection Act." The proposed legislation would prohibit a man from masturbating unless it is intended for procreation only. That means if you want to masturbate in Mississippi, it better be within the confines of a fertility clinic to make a baby! The bill also includes criminal charges for people who violate it. The bill proposes to make it "unlawful for a person to discharge genetic material (sperm) without the intent to fertilize an embryo, effectively criminalizing certain male reproductive behaviors." Violators wouldn't face jail time, only monetary penalties in the amount of $1,000 for the first offense, $5,000 for the second, and $10,000 for three or more offenses. Last week, President Trump signed an Executive Order prohibiting federal taxpayer money from funding elective abortions. He also reintroduced the "Global Gag Rule," a comprehensive policy that is expected to limit access to abortion services in various countries worldwide. Although it is unquestionably unlikely, if Governor Tate Reeves approves the bill, it'll be enforced on July 1. Igor_kell / Getty Images
