Photo by Felix E. Guerrero

Last week, conservative lawmakers in the Republican-majority Virginia State Senate introduced a bill mandating that women seeking abortions undergo an ultrasound examination before terminating a pregnancy.

The bill, pushed by legislators and activists who argue that the opportunity to look at ultrasound images will discourage abortions, won an 8-7 committee vote along party lines last Thursday and is now on the floor of the full state senate. It would also require women who live less than 100 miles from the nearest abortion provider to wait at least 24 hours between the ultrasound exam and ending the pregnancy.

But yesterday, State Sen. Janet D. Howell, a Democrat from Fairfax, decided to push back on the measure, which she said is “adding to the cost and … opening [women] up for emotional blackmail.”

Attempts to derail pieces of legislation by adding unpalatable amendments—say, attaching to a budget autonomy bill a rider that would turn the District into a shooting gallery—are often called “poison pills.”

Well, in the case of the ultrasound bill, Howell’s poison pill is the little blue pill.

In deliberations over the measure yesterday, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported, Howell offered an amendment that would require any man seeking a prescription for erectile dysfunction medication first submit to a rectal examination.

“I think we should just have a little gender equity here,” Howell said when presenting her amendment.

Conservatives want women considering abortion to undergo an additional procedure, potentially adding to the financial and emotional cost? Howell said men who need a little extra lift from drugs like Viagra or Cialis should undergo more scrutiny, too. Seems fair.

But Howell’s legislative cheek wasn’t enough to derail the ultrasound measure; her amendment was defeated 22-18, and the full bill is expected to pass the state senate later today before going to the Virginia House of Representatives, which is also dominated by Republicans.