Usually, all you need to get a prescription for Viagra is to "have a talk" with your doctor. An amendment proposed by Virginia state senator Janet Howell (D-Fairfax), would have required patients seeking the erectile dysfunction drug to submit to a more "probing" check up - a digital prostate exam.The amendment, which would have required men to have a prostate exam and cardiac stress test before obtaining Viagra, was payback on a bill requiring women seeking abortions to undergo sonograms. The bill, introduced by state Sen. Jill Vogel (R-Fauquier), is similar to one passed in Texas in 2011, aimed at deterring women from terminating their pregnancies by making them view a sonogram and listen to a detailed description of the fetus.
Said Howell, "The Virginia senate is about to pass a bill that will require a woman to have a totally unnecessary medical procedure at their cost and inconvenience. If we're going to do that to women, why not do that to men?"
The rectal exam amendment was defeated by a 21-19 vote in the state senate, while the sonogram bill, SB 484, passed the senate by 21-18. No doubt it will pass as well in the Republican-controlled Virginia house of representatives, although its constitutionality will certainly be challenged.
After Howell presented her amendment on the senate floor, Senator Vogel countered that erectile dysfunction and pregnancy are clearly not equivalent. Agreed, but requiring unnecessary sonograms and proctological exams is equally ridiculous.
