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Mandatory vasectomy at 50 or after 3 kids? Alabama bill proposes it

After a tough abortion bill passed last year, a lawmaker said men should be held just as responsible for reproductive decisions as women.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — An Alabama lawmaker has introduced a bill requiring men to get a vasectomy when they turn 50. The sponsor says it's a response to a bill that passed the legislature last year that included a near-total ban on abortion.

Rep. Rolanda Hollis, a Democrat, sponsored House Bill 238, which would create a law requiring men to get the procedure "within a month of their 50th birthday or the birth of his third biological child, whichever comes first."

The man would also have to pay for the vasectomy at his own expense.

The bill notes there is no existing law that places restrictions on a man's reproductive rights. Hollis said if a woman is to be held responsible for her reproductive decisions, so should a man.

“The vasectomy bill is to help with the reproductive system, and yes, it is to neutralize the abortion ban bill ...it always takes two to tango," Hollis said, according to AL.com. “We can’t put all the responsibility on women. Men need to be responsible also.”

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Hollis said she does not believe abortion should be used as birth control, but she believes the mother should have the right to end the pregnancy in cases of rape, incest "or anything like that."

A judge last October blocked the near-total abortion ban from going into effect, according to AL.com. The bill only provided an exception if the mother's life was in danger.

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