Alabama legislator offers bill requiring men get vasectomies at 50 in response to anti-abortion laws

An Alabama state lawmaker introduced legislation that would require men to get vasectomies within one month of turning 50 years old or once their third biological child is born in response to legislation banning abortion in the state.

“Under existing law, there are no restrictions on the reproductive rights of men,” the bill’s synopsis reads. “This bill would require a man to undergo a vasectomy within one month of his 50th birthday or the birth of his third biological child, whichever comes first.”

State Rep. Rolanda Hollis (D) introduced the legislation Thursday in response to an abortion bill passed by the state legislature last year that resulted in a near-total ban on abortion.

“The vasectomy bill is to help with the reproductive system, and yes, it is to neutralize the abortion ban bill … it always takes two to tango,” she told AL.com. “We can’t put all the responsibility on women. Men need to be responsible also.”

Men who satisfy the aforementioned requirements would have to pay for the procedure on their own, much how women in Alabama take on the bill of their reproductive health care needs. 

The abortion law passed last year would ban abortion in nearly all instances, and any doctor who performs an abortion would face felony charges and a sentence of up to 99 years in prison.

However, the bill was blocked from taking effect in November by U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson, who found it unconstitutional. The Alabama attorney general’s office did not appeal the temporary injunction.