Two Ohio Democratic lawmakers say they’re introducing the “Conception Begins at Erection” Act, a proposal that would criminalize men who engage in unprotected sex without the intent to conceive.
State Reps. Anita Somani (D-Dublin) and Tristan Rader (D-Lakewood) are backing the tongue-in-cheek measure that would make it a felony for men to “discharge semen or genetic material without intent to fertilize an embryo.”
Penalties for violating the law would include a $1,000 fine for a first offense, $5,000 for a second, and $10,000 for each one after that.
The measure would have some exceptions. For instance, no crime would be committed or fine levied if contraception is used. Those who masturbate or donate sperm would also be unaffected by the law, as would men who have sex with other men, including gays and bisexuals.
Somani, an OB-GYN for more than 30 years, said the bill is meant to highlight the absurdity of policing reproductive rights, pointing to anti-abortion laws passed by Republicans that have imposed sweeping restrictions. Thirteen states currently have near-total abortion bans, with exceptions only when a woman’s life is at risk. Eleven others allow abortion up to fetal viability, typically 22 to 25 weeks into pregnancy.
Beyond existing bans, some Republican lawmakers have pushed legislation that would charge physicians who perform abortions with felonies. Other proposals include criminal penalties for those who seek abortions or use the “morning-after pill,” according to the Guttmacher Institute.
“As an OBGYN, the bills that have been proposed with reproductive rights have also proposed felonies and fines for healthcare providers for people who support those women, or those folks who want to go get reproductive care, so we shouldn’t be penalizing reproductive care for anybody — and that, again, is why we have the felony piece of this bill,” Somani told WOIO.
The bill is unlikely to advance in Ohio’s Republican-dominated House or Senate.
Somani noted that the bill doesn’t have to pass to achieve its purpose: sparking a conversation about how reproductive laws often target women while exempting men from responsibility for unplanned or unwanted pregnancies.
“You don’t get pregnant on your own,” Somani told Cleveland-area ABC affiliate WEWS. “If you’re going to penalize someone for an unwanted pregnancy, why not penalize the person who is also responsible for the pregnancy?”
Ohio voters enshrined the right to abortion, contraception, and fertility treatments in the state constitution through a 2023 referendum that passed with 57% support. However, anti-abortion advocates have urged Republican lawmakers to back the “Ohio Prenatal Equal Protection Act,” which seeks to undermine that vote by defining life as beginning at the moment of conception. Similar laws in states like Alabama have led to the closure of fertility clinics.
Despite his vehement opposition to abortion, End Abortion Ohio President Austin Beigel has called the Conception Begins at Erection Act “ridiculous.” Somani says she agrees with that sentiment.
“If you think it’s absurd to regulate men, then you should think it’s equally absurd to regulate women,” Somani told WOIO. “If [Republicans] think that it’s a waste of taxpayer money, well, then they should think the same on the other side.”
Jimmy Kimmel has defeated an appeal by former Congressman George Santos, who sued Kimmel and ABC after the comedian tricked him into making personalized Cameo videos and used them on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to mock the Republican. Santos, expelled from Congress in December 2023 over financial and ethical scandals, had turned to the video-on-demand app to earn money after his ouster.
In his lawsuit, Santos accused Kimmel and ABC of copyright infringement, fraudulent inducement, and other violations. Kimmel’s staff had ordered Cameo videos under false pretenses, coaxing Santos into making silly or controversial statements, which the show then aired in a recurring segment called "Will Santos Say It?"
A rainbow crosswalk in Columbus, Ohio -- part of a federal road safety study -- was defaced when an unknown vandal poured a black tar-like substance across its brightly colored panels.
The incident comes as rainbow crosswalks nationwide face political pushback, with Republican leaders including former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis portraying them as dangerous distractions on the road.
City officials learned of the vandalism on August 25 after a Reddit post and calls to 311 alerted them to the damage. The crosswalk, at Lane and Waldeck Avenues near Ohio State University, had each of its colored panels smeared with the black substance.
A federal judge has ruled in favor of William Saki, an Ohio man who sued after the state rejected his request for a personalized license plate reading "GAY," which he sought to mark National Coming Out Day and "express a central part of his identity."
The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) had rejected the plate as "Inappropriate/Invalid," according to its online registration tool.
Saki then tried to register other plates, including "QUEER" and "HOMO," but those were also rejected, according to the Ohio-based LGBTQ outlet The Buckeye Flame.
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