In response to recent efforts to limit women’s access to reproductive health services, Senator Nina Turner (D-Cleveland) has introduced a bill in the Ohio state Senate that would require men seeking medication for erectile dysfunction to first see a sex therapist. Men would also be required to undergo a cardiac stress test and submit a notarized affidavit from their sexual partner, certifying their impotence.
Turner cited FDA guidelines that doctors determine whether the sexual dysfunction has physical or psychological causes before prescribing erectile dysfunction drugs, such as Viagra. She said her bill would “legislate it the same way mostly men say they want to legislate a woman’s womb.”
Similarly, in Illinois, a bill was introduced that would require men to watch a video on the side effects of Viagra before being prescribed the drug; and in Virginia, Senator Janet Howell (D) introduced a measure that would mandate that men seeking Viagra submit to a digital rectal exam and undergo a cardiac stress test.
Think Progress 3/11/12; Examiner 3/11/12
