Why This Lawmaker Wants to Charge Men a $100 Fine For Masturbating

It's no secret that men and women have completely different rights when it comes to their reproductive choices, and one Texas state representative is trying to give men a taste of what women deal with on a daily basis. Democrat Jessica Farrar has proposed HB 4260 with the title the Man's Right to Know Act, which states that in addition to charging men $100 fines for masturbating, they would be required to have rectal exams before a vasectomy, a colonoscopy, or a prescription for Viagra.

Farrar has referred to this bill as "satirical," and she's well aware of the backlash she'll receive from this proposition. But she wants to open legislators' eyes to the almost identical restrictions they are putting on female reproductive rights. The bill suggests a fine for "unregulated masturbatory emissions," which means that "emissions outside of a woman's vagina, or created outside of a health or medical facility, will be charged a $100 civil penalty for each emission, and will be considered an act against an unborn child," Farrar wrote in the proposal.

In the four-page legislation, she points out that men seeking a Viagra prescription, a colonoscopy, or a vasectomy should also be given a booklet titled "A Man's Right to Know," which would detail "the benefits and concerns" about these procedures. Farrar explains that in the same way a woman seeking an abortion is required to read "A Woman's Right to Know" in Texas, a man's reproductive choices should be treated the same way. There are similar Woman's Right to Know Acts in Oklahoma and North Carolina as well.

You might be wondering how Farrar could think that this bill would be passed, and the important thing to point out is that she does not. She simply wants to start a bigger discussion about human reproductive rights. "What I would like to see is this make people stop and think," she told The Texas Tribune. "Maybe my colleagues aren't capable of that, but the people who voted for them, or the people that didn't vote at all, I hope that it changes their mind and helps them to decide what the priorities are."