Did a Mississippi state senator file a bill in a sincere attempt to bar men from masturbating? No, that's not true: Bradford Blackmon said he introduced Senate Bill 2319 to highlight what he described as "double standards" in laws affecting men and women. Blackmon said in a press statement, "When a bill has been filed that would regulate what a man is able to do with his own body in his own home, it suddenly has people in an uproar."
The implied claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X on January 23, 2025, with the caption, "A new bill called 'contraception begins at erection act' was just filed in Mississippi." The opening paragraph for Senate Bill 2319 included in the post says:
AN ACT TO ENACT THE CONTRACEPTION BEGINS AT ERECTION ACT; TO DEFINE TERMS; TO PROVIDE THAT IT SHALL BE UNLAWFUL FOR A PERSON TO DISCHARGE GENETIC MATERIAL WITHOUT THE INTENT TO FERTILIZE AN EMBRYO; TO PROVIDE FOR CRIMINAL PENALTIES; TO PROVIDE CERTAIN EXCEPTIONS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Fri Jan 24 16:25:53 2025 UTC)
This post provided no evidence to support the implied assertion that, on January 20, 2025, Blackmon filed Senate Bill 2319 (archived here) in a sincere attempt to bar men from masturbating.
Press statement
Blackmon published a press statement on his Instagram account on January 23, 2025, saying, "The filing of this bill is to point out the double standards in legislation." He continued:
You have male dominated legislatures in Mississippi and all over the country that pass laws that dictate what a woman can and can not do with her body. I was raised by strong parents that preached equality for all. My mother and my father both believe in equal rights for women. One of the reasons why this legislation is so important is that with the overturning of Roe v. Wade, it has not only impacted women's ability to get abortion care but it has also affected women's ability to access basic gynecological care that includes contraceptive care.
When a bill has been filed that would regulate what a man is able to do with his own body in his own home, it suddenly has people in an uproar. I am trying to figure out when it isn't okay for the government to dictate what you do in the privacy of your own home, apparently it is when the laws regulate men. The reactions from some quarters relating to my bill, indicates that men are not held to the same standard when it comes to the intrusion into their personal private affairs as women have been held to with the reversal of Roe vs. Wade. It is rich that the landmark Supreme Court decision of Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization began it all, here, in the State of Mississippi.
In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade (archived here) in its Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization decision, revoking the constitutional right to abortion.
This is what the post looked like on Instagram at the time of writing:
(Source: Instagram screenshot taken on Fri Jan 24 16:25:53 2025 UTC)
Read more
Additional fact checks concerning politics are here.
Other Lead Stories fact checks concerning health can be found here.
