Karianne Lisonbee, a Utah Republican who serves in the state's House of Representatives, was criticized after she claimed people can control the "intake of semen" into their bodies to avoid pregnancy.
Lisonbee's comments came after the Supreme Court published a ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark decision that once protected a person's right to choose reproductive health care without excessive government restriction.
While she later attempted to clarify her remarks, saying they "did not reflect what I intended to express," they represented yet another example of the startling statements coming from the mouths of conservative figures who have basked in the news of the ruling, which has been hailed as a major victory by the Evangelical Christian right.
You can hear her remarks in the video below.
Lisonbee said:
"I got a text message today saying I should seek to control men's ejaculations and not women's pregnancies, [suggesting] that I clearly don't trust women enough to make choices to control their own body."
"And my response is I do trust women enough to control when they allow a man to ejaculate inside of them and to control that intake of semen."
"I think that may be inflammatory but I think as a legislature we have the responsibility to create a legal framework that is friendly and supporting rights."
Lisonbee was immediately criticized for her remarks.
\u201cDidn\u2019t believe ignorance of basic reproductive functions \u2014 and by candidates for office \u2014could still shock me, but now there\u2019s this\u2026someone please get her a copy of \u201cWhere Do Babies Come From?\u201d\u201d— Carla Marinucci (@Carla Marinucci) 1656372908
\u201cSomeone doesn\u2019t understand much about anything, starting with Kegels\u201d— Elizabeth Bowen (@Elizabeth Bowen) 1656209635
\u201cAnd then there was this. I have no words. How do these people get elected? #VoteBlueOrWeAreScrewed #idpol #WeWontGoBack\u201d— David Roth - Democratic Nominee to U.S. Senate (@David Roth - Democratic Nominee to U.S. Senate) 1656254931
\u201cThis has to be the weirdest series of words I have ever heard exit the mouth of an elected official.\u201d— GWW vs Omicron (@GWW vs Omicron) 1656255850
\u201cThe level of stupid in the GOP is astronomical \ud83d\udc47\ud83c\udffb\u201d— Lisa Joy (@Lisa Joy) 1656257125
\u201ci love that the only way you think this is possible is if you have learned about sex in a US public school OR from megan thee stallion lyrics https://t.co/Y31KlvCdjd\u201d— "Daddy Magic" Kath Barbadoro (@"Daddy Magic" Kath Barbadoro) 1656183636
\u201cReminder that forced birth advocates are astonishingly gross and are far more obsessed with sex (and more dangerously misinformed) than anyone I\u2019ve ever known.\u201d— Dreadful in an Astonishing Way \ud83e\udd8b\ud83c\udf18\u2694\ufe0f (@Dreadful in an Astonishing Way \ud83e\udd8b\ud83c\udf18\u2694\ufe0f) 1656186627
\u201cLiberals are the ones who are usually accused of being sex-obsessed, but ask yourself: Can you imagine these words coming out of the mouth of a Democratic politician?\u201d— joelwhite, jd (@joelwhite, jd) 1656256368
\u201cSo women are entirely responsible for men's ejaculations, but they cannot have control on their own bodies.\u201d— \u2764\ufe0f\u200d\ud83d\udd25BrodoBaggins (@\u2764\ufe0f\u200d\ud83d\udd25BrodoBaggins) 1656194314
Reproductive rights advocates across Utah have responded in outrage following the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe.
The state is one of several with a trigger law that immediately went into effect upon Roe's reversal that effectively bans abortion in the state except in cases where it "is necessary to avert the death" of the pregnant woman or there is "a serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function."
Lisonbee co-authored the law, which was proposed in 2020. While the law contains an exception for rape or incest, it requires a physician performing the abortion to verify that the rape or incest has been reported to the authorities before it can actually proceed.
Lisonbee drew attention to this legislation afterward, saying her statements, controversial as they are, "made clear the actions I have taken to pass bills that provide legal protection and recourse to victims of sexual assault."
Her statement came just before Illinois Republican Representative Mary Miller declared during a rally for former President Donald Trump, who appointed three conservatives to the Supreme Court while in office and tilted its ideological balance to the right, that he had given his supporters a "victory for white life."
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