Recently, Pennsylvania state Rep. Chris Rabb, a Democrat who represents the 200th district, thought it was a good idea to propose parody legislation that requires men to get vasectomies before turning 40 or after having three children, whichever comes first.
My forthcoming bill will codify the definition of #wrongfulconception to include when a person has demonstrated negligence toward preventing #conception during intercourse. /2
— Rep. Chris Rabb (@RepRabb) October 2, 2021
And . . .
Last, this bill will empower Pennsylvanians to enforce this prospective law by offering a $10K reward for reporting to the proper authorities those #scofflaws who have not complied with this statute within the allotted timeframe. /4
— Rep. Chris Rabb (@RepRabb) October 2, 2021
As long as legislators continue to restrict the #ReproductiveRights of cis women, trans men & non-binary folx, there should be laws to address the responsibility of men who impregnate them!@NCSLorg @MarchForWomen @PPKeystone @aclupa @newvoicesrj https://t.co/OXz2HXG2hm
— Rep. Chris Rabb (@RepRabb) October 2, 2021
In an official memo circulated to all fellow House members, Rep. Rabb discussed the idea behind it using double entendres. "As we head toward climax on this heated discourse around this delicate matter, we should come together to address it with surgical precision. We must also commit to mending the social fabric being sliced up by bitter acrimony," it reads at one point.
The idea that an elected official would waste time in such a way was confusing and absurd enough that viewers of local news outlet 13News contacted to ask about the legislation. Here's what the outlet confirmed:
Yes, Pennsylvania State Rep. Christopher Rabb said he is proposing a bill that would require men to get a vasectomy soon after the birth of their third child or when they turn 40 years old, whichever comes first. But the state lawmaker said he announced the legislation only as parody in response to a restrictive abortion law in Texas and to highlight what he believes is a double standard involving reproductive legislation based on gender.
They also acknowledged that their sister news station, WMPT-TV, gave this wasteful effort a platform in that Rabb spoke with them that same week.
Inseminators. Vasectomies. Actual language in a real proposal by a PA House Rep. And if you ask Chris Rabb, his bill to force men to get it done at 40 or after 3 kids is no different than what he sees against women's reproductive rights. It's a story you'll see tomorrow on @FOX43 pic.twitter.com/oTqXIAEFgG
— Matt Maisel (@Matt_Maisel) October 6, 2021
While Rep. Rabb proposed such legislation to highlight what he claims is a "double standard" on abortion legislation, it ends up highlighting the lengths pro-abortion, Democratic politicians are willing to go to look like fools.
A blog post from PAFamily.org noted that "The bill, though likely intended as parody but using tax dollars to formally introduce it, is a failed attempt to defend the “my body, my choice” argument, which is of course misguided because there are two bodies, the unborn child has his or her own body and the mother’s body."
"This is clearly a publicity stunt. The bill has no chance of passage," said Maria Gallagher, legislative director of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, an affiliate of National Right to Life. "We continue to grieve for the more than 62 million children whose lives have been taken by legal abortion since 1973, and our hearts go out to the mothers for their unspeakable loss," Gallagher added.
The local news outlets cited above mention criticism from Republican state House members, including State Reps. Barb Gleim and Aaron Bernstine, who both make reference to Communist China.
As it turns out, though, one need not look that far. There is a shameful legacy of forced sterilizations in our own backyard. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Buck v. Bell (1927), that forced sterilizations of certain demographics, "for the protection and health of the state," did not violate the Constitution.
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. added that the law was also in place to keep the country from "being swamped with incompetence" as "Three generations of imbeciles are enough."
Jeremy Samek, Senior Counsel for Pennsylvania Family Institute provided a statement for Towmhall on this larger issue . "First, preventing pregnancy is not remotely analogous to ending the life of the preborn child after the child has already been conceived. Second, Rep. Rabb’s bill might have logic if some pro-life legislator had proposed a bill that forced sterilization of women to prevent pregnancy from occurring...but alas, China and U.S. Democrats have been the only sponsors of forced sterilization laws," he said. "Finally, Rep. Rabb’s own bill, even if passed, would also require sterilization of women after their third child through operation of the equal protection clause. This would make proud those who promoted the compulsory sterilization law upheld by the Supreme Court in 1927 in Buck v. Bell, as well as people like the eugenics-promoting founder of Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger."
Shockingly, Buck v. Bell has never been overturned. Further, eugenics still has a legacy in our society today through the presence of Planned Parenthood, which was founded by eugenist Margaret Sanger, and to this day performs more abortions than any other entity in the country.