An Oklahoma politician wants women to have to get a man’s permission to get an abortion
A legislator in Oklahoma has put forward a bill which would make it illegal for a woman to get an abortion without a man’s consent.
The bill, drafted by Republican Representative Justin Humphrey, would specifically make it illegal for a woman to get an abortion without the consent of “the father of the foetus”.
House Bill 1441 was drafted by Humphrey on 9 January.
It states that: No abortion shall be performed in this state without the written informed consent of the father of the fetus.”
In the case of exceptions like situations involving rape or incest, it is unclear whether a woman would be made to prove that rape or incest occured.
The bill appears to be on the agenda for Tuesday for the House Public Health Committee.
According to the Intercept, Humphrey drafted the bill saying that men have traditionally “excluded…from these kinds of decisions.”
“I understand that [women] feel like that is their body.”
He also said he preferred to refer to women as “hosts”.
“I feel like it is a separate — what I call them is, is you’re a ‘host.’ And you know when you enter into a relationship you’re going to be that host and so, you know, if you pre-know that then take all precautions and don’t get pregnant. So that’s where I’m at. I’m like, hey, your body is your body and be responsible with it. But after you’re irresponsible then don’t claim, well, I can just go and do this with another body, when you’re the host and you invited that in. ”
The bill would take effect in November 2017, and would mean women would have to get a male sexual partner’s consent to have an abortion.
