Ohio bill would ban ejaculation without intent to conceive — with exceptions for LGBTQ+ people

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3D medical rendering of human sperm cells swimming

The Conception Begins at Erection Act contains exceptions for men using birth control, donating sperm, masturbating, or having sex with another man or member of the LGBTQ+ community.

Ohio Democrats have introduced a bill that would fine straight cisgender men for ejaculating without intent to conceive.

The Conception Begins at Erection Act, proposed by Democratic State Representatives Anita Somani and Tristan Rader, would impose a $1,000 fine for a first offense, $5,000 for a second offense, and $10,000 for any subsequent offense to "discharge semen or genetic material without intent to fertilize an embryo."

The bill contains exceptions for men using birth control, donating sperm, masturbating, or having sex with another man or member of the LGBTQ+ community that won't "produce ova." It is specifically aimed at men having straight sex without protection and without intent to have a baby.

"You don't get pregnant on your own. If you're going to penalize someone for an unwanted pregnancy, why not penalize the person who is also responsible for the pregnancy?" Somani, who is also an OBGYN, told News 5 Cleveland. "Just like abortion bills have penalized physicians or created felonies for physicians and patients, the intent of the bill is to show that we should not be policing any anybody's reproductive right."

There are near-total abortion bans in 13 states, and 11 others restrict it before fetal viability. This has led to the documented deaths of several women who were denied care while experiencing pregnancy complications.

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Ohio voters solidified the right to abortion, contraception, and fertility treatment in the state constitution in 2023 with a referendum, Issue 1, which passed with 57 percent in favor and 43 percent against. This has not stopped conservatives such as End Abortion Ohio president Austin Beigel from pushing the so-called Ohio Prenatal Equal Protection Act, which would designate life as beginning at conception similar to an Alabama law that shuttered fertility clinics offering in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Beigel called the Conception Begins at Erection Act "ridiculous," which Somani said she agrees with.

"If you think it's absurd to regulate men, then you should think it's equally absurd to regulate women," she continued. "If [Republicans] think that it's a waste of taxpayer money, well, then they should think the same on the other side."

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