Dispatches from the front in the 'war on women'

So, lots of things going on in the all-out nuclear war on women this week:
1. After state legislators all over the country have introduced or passed bills regulating women's health, women legislators are introducing bills regulating men's health care, such as Viagra and vasectomies for men.  Look here and here.  * I didn't want to make this too long but I'm putting the language of the Ohio bill below.   It's worth reading.
2. Arizona has passed a "wrongful birth" malpractice bill that shields doctors from liability if they do not tell women the truth about their pregnancies to influence them to continue with problem pregnancies, in other words, to lie to them.  How's that "women's right to know" thing going?
3. Ninety-eight sponsors (and counting) have let it be known that they do not want their spots to be aired during Rush Limbaugh's program.  They'll probably creep back and I'm not sure it's a good idea to cut off anybody's free speech, but this is fun while it lasts.
4. Republicans are trying to claim that Democrats are the ones waging the war on women and they just want to talk about jobs, even as Republican-controlled legislatures continue to introduce oppressive anti-abortion and "personhood" bills all  ovber the nation.
5. I learned, or perhaps relearned (I may have known this once back in the 1970s), to my shock and amazement that the U.S. and Puerto Rican governments carried out a covert policy to sterilize as many as 35 percent of Puerto Rican women from the 1930s to the 1960s. More. Than. One-Third. To learn more about this, go here  or Google Puerto Rico and sterilization. For that matter, Google United States and sterilization. 
6. The Obama Administration is  phasing out Medicaid funding for 130,000 women in Texas in retaliation for Texas defunding 51 Planned Parenthood clinics that provided basic health  care to women and did not perform abortions.  Boy, the women of Texas really came out ahead on that one.  Just another reason to never, never set foot in Texas.
The only heartening thing I've seen in this whole dismal mess is that young women, the ones who didn't live through the Women's Liberation movement, for whom contraception and abortion have always been taken for granted, are waking up and beginning to fight back.  
All of these things speak for themselves.  Just go to the links.

* Ohio S.B. 307, Sec. 4731.45. 

(A) No person other than a physician shall issue to a patient a prescription for a drug intended to treat symptoms of erectile dysfunction.

(B) Prior to issuing a prescription for a drug intended to treat symptoms of erectile dysfunction, a physician shall do all of the following:

(1) Obtain from the patient a notarized affidavit in which at least one of the patient's sexual partners certifies that the patient has experienced symptoms of erectile dysfunction in the ninety days preceding the date on the affidavit;

(2) Refer the patient to a sexual therapist approved by the state medical board for an assessment of the possible causes of the patient's symptoms of erectile dysfunction and obtain a written report in which the therapist concludes that the patient's symptoms are not solely attributable to one or more psychological conditions;

(3) Conduct a cardiac stress test and obtain a result, described in writing, indicating that the patient's cardiac health is compatible with sexual activity;

(4) Notify the patient in writing of the potential risks and complications associated with taking drugs intended to treat erectile dysfunction and obtain the patient's signature on a form acknowledging the patient's receipt of the notification;

(5) Declare in writing, under penalty of perjury, that the drug the physician is prescribing is necessary to treat the patient's symptoms of erectile dysfunction and attach to the declaration a statement that clearly describes the physician's medical rationale for issuing the prescription;

(6) Place all documents described in divisions (B)(1) to (5) of this section in the patient's medical record and retain the documents as part of that record for not less than seven years.

(C) To ensure the continued health of a patient to whom a prescription for a drug intended to treat symptoms of erectile dysfunction has been issued, a physician shall do both of the following as part of the physician's course of treatment for the patient, including treatment rendered by issuing to that patient a prescription authorizing one or more refills for the drug originally prescribed or a prescription for another drug intended to treat symptoms of erectile dysfunction:

(1) Require the patient to undergo a cardiac stress test every ninety days while the patient is taking the drug to ensure that the patient's cardiac health continues to be compatible with sexual activity;

(2) Require the patient to attend three sessions of outpatient counseling within a period of not less than six months after the drug is initially prescribed for purposes of ensuring the patient's understanding of the dangerous side effects of drugs intended to treat the symptoms of erectile dysfunction.

The physician shall ensure that the sessions include information on nonpharmaceutical treatments for erectile dysfunction, including sexual counseling and resources for patients to pursue celibacy as a viable lifestyle choice.