Utah lawmaker in wake of Roe ruling: Women can control ‘intake of semen’

Someone needs a middle-school health class refresher.

A Utah lawmaker said Friday that women can control their “intake of semen” at a celebratory press conference after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

“I got a text message today saying I should seek to control men’s ejaculations and not women’s pregnancies,” Republican state Rep. Karianne Lisonbee said. “I do trust women enough to control when they allow a man to ejaculate inside of them and to control that intake of semen.”

Utah was one of 13 states that set up trigger laws to automatically ban abortion with the deconstruction of Roe v. Wade. Performing an abortion was outlawed in Utah on Friday and is punishable by 1-15 years in prison.

The law, passed in 2020, includes exceptions for rape, incest and to save a woman’s life. However, the rape exception is contingent on the attack being “reported to law enforcement.”

Karianna Lisonbee speaks in the Utah House of Representatives in 2019. Lisonbee represents the north Salt Lake City suburb of Clearfield. (Rick Bowmer/)

Nationwide, only about 3 of every 10 sexual assaults are reported to police, according to an extensive study by the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.

“Women do not have a choice when they are raped and have protections under Utah’s trigger law,” Lisonbee told the Salt Lake Tribune after she was mocked for her comments. “I am committed to ongoing respectful and civil engagement. I can always do better and will continue to try.”