(Joe Raedle/AFP/Getty Images)
In the Virginia state Senate, Sen. Janet Howell protested a bill that would require women to have an ultrasound before an abortion with an unusual amendment: requiring men to receive rectal exams before receiving erectile dysfunction medication.

According to The Washington Post, Howell, a Fairfax Democrat, expressed her disdain for the latest legislation on Monday, and said the amendment was just a matter of fairness between genders. Her amendment states before a man is treated for erectile dysfunction they must undergo a cardiac stress test and a digital rectal exam.


“We need some gender equity here,” Howell, who’s been in the Senate since 1992, told The Huffington Post. “The Virginia Senate is about to pass a bill that will require a woman to have totally unnecessary medical procedure at their cost and inconvenience. If we’re going to do that to women, why not do that to men?”

Sen. Jill Vogel, a Republican from Fauquier and the chief sponsor behind the ultrasound bill, shot back at Howell’s amendment, saying pregnancy and erectile dysfunction were not the same, CBS News reported. Howell’s proposed amendment failed, but only by a 21-19 vote.