What's Really At Stake In The Texas Abortion Debate Is Men's Sex Lives

As HB 2 passed the Texas House and moved to the Senate Wednesday, the nation held its breath on the future of the male sex life.

Or at least, one man did: Ben Sherman, a writer for the Burnt Orange Report, a political blog that describes itself as "progressive/liberal/Democratic."

Most of the abortion debate so far has been over the impact on women's health, which isn't surprising since HB2 would ban abortions after 20 weeks and impose regulations that would likely shutter most of the state's abortion clinics.

But in a column last week called "Bro-Choice: How #HB2 Hurts Texas Men Who Like Women," Sherman listed four ways that the bill hurts Texas men.

There's one particularly innovative argument on the list:

Number four: "Your sex life is at stake."

Sherman writes:

Can you think of anything that kills the vibe faster than a woman fearing a back-alley abortion? Making abortion essentially inaccessible in Texas will add an anxiety to sex that will drastically undercut its joys. And don't be surprised if casual sex outside of relationships becomes far more difficult to come by.

He calls on his fellow men to show up at the Texas state capital in orange, which has become the official color of pro-choice activists since orange-clad activists caused a clamor at the end of State Senator Wendy Davis's now-famous filibuster.

Not all men stand with Sherman, however: Governor Rick Perry (R) has come out in strong support of the bill, calling a special session to allow voting after the Davis's filibuster and commending the blue-clad pro-life activists who also flocked to the capital.