Ohio Bill Aims To Make Ejaculating Without Intent To Conceive A Felony

Ohio lawmakers are prepared to introduce a new bill that would be called the “Conception Begins At Erection Act” which would make it illegal for men to have sex without intent to make a baby.

The bill is sponsored by representatives Anita Somani (D-Dublin) and Tristan Rader (D-Lakewood).

Rader and Somani posted a video on BlueSky, saying their new bill would hold men accountable for their role in unwanted pregnancies.

“Why regulate abortion access when you go straight to the source of the issue? Introducing our new bill to hold men accountable for their role in unwanted pregnancies,” the caption on the post reads.

“Fair is fair, right? If this legislature is so dedicated to regulating women’s bodies and their access to contraceptives then let’s start policing men in the same way,” Somani says in the video.

“After all, it does take two to tango, right? Our bill would make it illegal to discharge semen or genetic material without the intent to fertilize an embryo,” she added.

The lawmakers say the point of "The Conception Begins at Erection Act" is to "call out the hypocrisy" of "bills that regulate women’s bodies."

A memo sent out by Rader and Somani to other representatives to co-sponsor says “the legislation seeks to ensure that men share responsibility in reproductive health, particularly in light of the numerous bills introduced across the country in recent years that disproportionally target women’s access to abortion and contraception.”

While the bill has not formally been introduced, the “Conception Begins At Erection Act” is expected to offer clear exceptions for sperm donation, the use of contraception to prevent fertilization, masturbation, and the LGBTQIA community.

The act would establish penalties for anyone who “discharges” genetic material without intent to fertilize an embryo. Those penalties are:

• $1,000 for first offense
• $5,000 for second offense
• $10,000 for any subsequent offense

After news of the bill went viral, most people had questions about how this would even be regulated. How would this kind of act be reported? Is this even possible? Men, of course, are in absolute outrage over the potentially tongue-in-cheek bill (IMAGINE THAT!).

But, it takes two people to make a baby. If men want no responsibility for conception, they should also have no say in what happens after conception!

Ohio voters overwhelmingly legalized and protected the right to abortion in 2023.

Issue 1 passed 57-43%, and it enshrined reproductive rights into the state constitution. Currently, Ohioans have the right to make their own decisions about abortion, contraception, fertility treatment, miscarriage care, and continuing pregnancy. The state is prohibited from interfering with or penalizing someone for exercising this right.

Even so, anti-abortion advocates — like the president of End Abortion Ohio, Austin Beigel — are trying to reverse it.

He had some words of his own thoughts about the new bill.

"It's beyond ridiculous what's going on here," Beigel told Cleveland 5. "It's a mockery of the most basic biological concepts."

"If you think it's absurd to regulate men, then you should think it's equally absurd to regulate women," Somani responded.

He also told the outlet that in the coming weeks, lawmakers will introduce a new bill to criminalize abortion totally.

"It just says human life begins at conception," he said. "Therefore, all the protections that are offered to other people under the state law are also offered to the preborn."

This bill will likely never make it into actual law and it’s mostly expert-level trolling to point out the absolute hypocrisy, misogyny, and patriarchal undertones of every single law walking around under the guise of being “pro-life.”