A bill to ban unprotected sex without the intent of procreation has been filed by a Democrat in the Mississippi Senate.

The bill is called the “Contraception Begins at Erection Act.”

And while the bill has caused snarky jokes to be jabbed at the Magnolia State from social media and publications around the country, the bill’s author acknowledged the intent is to get a political rise, so to speak from some opponents.

Sen. Bradford Blackmon, D-Canton, the bill’s sponsor, said the bill is more of a political jab at Republican policy points to ban some forms of contraception than it is a serious effort to curtail what adults do behind closed doors, or opened doors, for that matter.

“You have male dominated legislatures in Mississippi and all over the country that pass laws that dictate what a woman can and cannot do with her body,” Blackmon said of the bill in a written statement. “I was raised by strong parents that preached equality for all. My mother and my father both believe in equal rights for women … 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.”

In an interview with the Clarion Ledger on Thursday, Blackmon said Senate Bill 12319 was filed in the same spirit as a bill by former House Rep. Steve Holland, D-Plantersville, who in 2012 introduced legislation to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America as a joke, poking at Mississippi Republicans talking points on immigration. This week, President Donald J. Trump declared the Gulf renamed to the Gulf of America.

Gulf of America: President Trump renames Gulf of Mexico, changes Denali back to Mount McKinley on first day

“It’s in that same vein,” Blackmon said.

Blackmon’s bill, dubbed the “Contraception Begins at Erection Act,” would make it illegal for a man to ejaculate without the expressed intent of fertilizing an embryo if he or the person he was having sex with were not using contraception. However, if one were using a form of contraception, such as a condom or birth control, that would be OK.

“It shall be unlawful for a person to discharge genetic material without the intent to fertilize an embryo,” the bill states.

Legislature begins: Mississippi Legislature begins 2025 Session. See leaders’ goals for this year

The bill, it would appear, takes the start of life to a whole new level.

If it were to pass into law, the bill would fine people who have unprotected sex $1,000 for the first offense, $5,000 for the second and $10,000 for every offense after that.

Donations to sperm banks would also be exempt from the bill’s intent.

This isn’t the first attempt that the Mississippi Legislature has attempted to regulate men’s bodies. In 2000, a Republican-filed bill would have called for fines if a man was publicly aroused, even if fully clothed at the time. That bill was aimed at patrons of strip clubs. A $2,000 fine would have levied.

Grant McLaughlin covers the Legislature and state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@gannett.com or 972-571-2335.