Friday view | Counseling your prescriber for what?

Counseling is a good thing, education is always encouraged, have we gone too far?

A newly proposed bill by a Kentucky legislator requires men to get signed consent from their spouses and visit a doctor twice prior to receiving drugs for erectile dysfunction (ED). Also, married men would be required to make a sworn statement they will only use the prescription when having sexual relations with their current spouse.

Mary Lou Marzian, Louisville Democratic State Representative acknowledged that her bill (House Bill 396) was filed as a direct response to a series of anti-abortion bills offered by Kentucky lawmakers. A bill signed on February 2 by Governor Bevin required women seeking abortions to undergo 24 hours of counseling with their doctor prior to the procedure.

According to an unofficial copy in the Kentucky Regular Session Chapter 311, it reads:

A health care practitioner shall:

• Require a man to have two (2) office visits on two (2) different calendar days before the health care practitioner prescribes a drug for erectile dysfunction to him;
• Prescribe a drug for erectile dysfunction only to a man who is currently married;
• Require a man to produce a signed and dated letter from the man's current spouse providing consent for a prescription for erectile dysfunction; and
• Require a man to make a sworn statement with his hand on a Bible that he will only use a prescription for a drug for erectile dysfunction when having sexual relations with his current spouse.

Have we gone too far?  What is the appropriate response here?  

For more information visit lrc.ky.gov.