February 22, 2012 11:27 PM UTC

Clever Response to Abortion Legislation

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• by: Colorado Pols

As The Huffington Post reports, a handful of Georgia legislators have come up with an interesting piece of legislation in the debate over abortion rights:

A group of female Democratic legislators in the Georgia House of Representatives has proposed a bill that would ban men from seeking vasectomies.

“Thousands of children are deprived of birth in this state every year because of the lack of state regulation over vasectomies,” said bill author Yasmin Neal in a statement. “It is patently unfair that men can avoid unwanted fatherhood by presuming that their judgment over such matters is more valid than the judgment of the General Assembly, while women’s ability to decide is constantly up for debate throughout the United States.”

The proposed legislation is a response to HB 954, a bill sponsored by Republican Doug McKillips that seeks to ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Current legislation prohibits abortions after the second trimester, or approximately 24 weeks. The measure, which has been moving quickly through the House, is intended to prevent late-term abortions on fetuses that proponents say can already feel pain at 20 weeks.

Wherever you stand on the issue of abortion, you’ve got to admit that this is a pretty smart way to get activists thinking about abortion with a different frame of mind.