Love is in the air this weekend in a lot of places, but in Kentucky, abortion rights supporters are mounting a cheeky campaign to fight back against recently passed state laws that strengthen abortion restrictions across the state.
The story starts two weeks ago when Kentucky's State Senate passed an "informed consent" bill that requires a woman seeking an abortion to have a consultation with her doctor 24 hours prior to the procedure. The measure tweaks a pre-existing law that most women were able to satisfy by listening to a pre-recorded message via phone, according to Louisville's Courier-Journal.
Kentucky's Republican Governor Matt Bevin performed a ceremonial signing of the bill on Friday while abortion opponents rallied at the state capitol.
Simultaneously, a Senate committee passed a new bill that would require a woman seeking an abortion to receive an ultrasound and have a doctor describe the ultrasound to her. That bill is expected to pass the Republican-heavy state senate, another blow to the Democrat-heavy state House which has, until recently, managed to block such measures.
These are dramatic developments in the ongoing abortion debate not just in Kentucky, but for the nation, as well. The now-Scalia-less U.S. Supreme Court is due to hear Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, the case surrounding a controversial Texas state law, HB 2, that places severe restrictions on abortion rights. (Last year, the Supreme Court issued a temporary stay on HB 2.)
But abortion rights supporters have now taken some humorous steps to battle these serious developments and draw attention to their fight. First, supporters took to Twitter last week to protest the current Kentucky legislation, using the hashtag "#askbevinaboutmyvag" to ask Gov. Bevin ridiculous questions.
Since @MattBevin has so many opinions on my uterus, I have some Obgyn questions to ask him- please feel free to join me #askbevinaboutmyvag— Molly Shah (@MollyOShah) February 11, 2016
If I get my uterus its own gun, will the state finally stop regulating it? #askbevinaboutmyvag— Huxley Morgan (@HuxleyMorgan) February 12, 2016
If I register my uterus as a corporation, will you stop trying to regulate it? #askbevinaboutmyvag— Chloe Atwater (@ChloeAtwater) February 13, 2016
But these folks were not alone.
Enter State Rep. Mary Lou Marzian (D-Louisville) who is fighting back against the new legislation by introducing the purposely outlandish House Bill 396 [PDF], aimed at putting hilariously over-the-top restrictions on buying Viagra in the state of Kentucky.
To wit: the bill would restrict Viagra sales only to married men; all men (married, of course) seeking to purchase Viagra must present a letter of permission signed by their spouse; and, as the kicker, any man purchasing Viagra must "make a sworn statement with his hand on a Bible that he will only use a prescription for a drug for erectile dysfunction when having sexual relations with his current spouse."
Speaking to the Courier-Journal, Marzian deadpanned, "I want to protect these men from themselves."
She also confirms the bill is a protest of the recent laws passed by a male-heavy state legislature, telling the Washington Post, “I started thinking, ‘How would this body of men feel if the government was injecting [itself] into their private medical decisions.'"
(Indeed, Kentucky's House has 84 men and 19 women while the Senate, which is responsible for forcing through the recent abortion restriction laws, has 42 men to just 4 women.)
And the whole story came full circle on Sunday when Molly Shah, the woman who started #askbevinaboutmyvag ran into Marzian during a grocery store run.
Just ran into #MaryLouMarzian at the grocery store she will definitely #askBevinAboutMyVag pic.twitter.com/MuqpwMNCE3— Molly Shah (@MollyOShah) February 14, 2016
Happy Valentine's Day, Kentucky.