COLUMBIA, S.C. — A South Carolina lawmaker acknowledges that her proposal to make it more difficult to get medication to treat erectile dysfunction is likely to go nowhere. But Democratic state Rep. Mia McLeod says she wants to send a message to the Republican-controlled General Assembly about laws governing the bodies of South Carolinians.

McLeod said her bill is her way of fighting proposals that would restrict abortions in the state.

House Majority Leader Bruce Bannister compared her proposal to a political cartoon – “Entertaining, but kind of sad that someone would spend the time to draft and introduce that bill.”

McLeod’s proposal won’t stop Republican-led efforts to limit abortions, including a ban 20 weeks into a pregnancy that is close to final passage.

McLeod knows her bill to limit erectile dysfunction medication – including Viagra and Cialis, part of a $4 billion-a-year worldwide industry – is a long shot. “In a male-dominated Legislature, is it likely to pass?” McLeod asked. “No.”

She said her bill and anti-abortion proposals waste time, energy and money.

McLeod proposes that doctors must clear several hurdles before prescribing erectile dysfunction medication, including:

• Referring a patient to a sex therapist.

• Conducting a cardiac stress test.

• Notifying the patient of the drug risks.

• Obtaining a notarized affidavit from at least one of the patient’s sexual partners that states the patient has experienced symptoms of erectile dysfunction during the previous 90 days.

McLeod said her experience on a House panel that investigated the state’s two Planned Parenthood clinics this fall influenced her to file her bill. The panel found the clinics were not involved in donor tissue programs, McLeod said. The investigation so far has found that no state money is being spent on Planned Parenthood, said Republican state Rep. Gary Clary.

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