High-profile Texas Senator Ted Cruz is responding to an Alabama lawmaker’s bill that would force men to get vasectomies at age 50.
The measure by Rep. Rolanda Hollis, D-Birmingham,would require Alabama men to get a vasectomy once they reach 50 or father three children.Men would have to pay for the vasectomies themselves, according to the bill.
The measure has drawn national attention, including from Cruz, a former presidential candidate.
“Yikes. A government big enough to give you everything is big enough to take everything...literally! Alabama Democrat proposes bill mandating all men have vasectomy at age 50 or after third child,” Cruz tweeted.
Hollis defended her measure, saying it was in response to last year’s passage of Alabama’s strict anti-abortion law. The law would make it a crime for a physician to perform the procedure, limiting abortions to cases where the life of the mother is in danger.
“The vasectomy bill is to help with the reproductive system, and yes, it is to neutralize the abortion ban bill ... it always takes two to tango," Hollis said. “We can’t put all the responsibility on women. Men need to be responsible also.”