If you have a Y chromosome and live in Arizona, pay attention:

(Aside to Ross: Having a Y chromosome means you’re a dude – FYI.)

The Arizona Senate is scheduling a re-vote on HB2625 – the bill that would allow any employer to opt out of covering contraception through their insurance plan for “moral or religious” reasons, requiring an employee (or their spouse) to approach the insurer directly with an affidavit showing the woman needs hormonal birth control for reasons other than pregnancy prevention, because the insurer of the morally objecting employer won’t have to cover contraception for pregnancy prevention.

Please note, Arizona already has a law on the books that allows religious institutions such as churches to opt out of contraception coverage when it is in direct opposition to their religious teachings. HB2625 would expand this exemption to any employer for any moral reason.

The bill was defeated 17-13 in the Senate on March 28 when seven Republicans joined Democrats in voting it down – but it’s not dead yet. Those seven Republicans need your help – and so do the ladies.

If you are a virgin guy and you have aspirations of some day having sex with a lady friend – without having to worry about whether or not this exciting (and likely short-lived) encounter may or may not turn that pee-stick pink – those Republicans need to hear from you.

If you are a single guy, and you are not having to pay child support on an unwanted child because your intimate partner was / is on the Pill, those Republicans need to hear from you.

If you are a guy in a long-term relationship, and you and your girlfriend haven’t decided whether you are getting married, let alone whether you want children, those Republicans need to hear from you.

If you are a married guy, and you and your wife have decided X-number of children is enough (or zero is a number) and you’ve had a vasectomy, those Republicans need to hear from you.

If you are a gay guy and you think that what happens in anybody’s bedroom is nobody’s business, those Republicans need to hear from you.

Contraception is not a woman’s issue: It’s a societal issue – which means it’s a man’s issue. Unplanned pregnancies result in children that we all have to pay for through increased insurance premiums, more welfare benefits, larger classrooms in our schools and greater strains on our societal safety net. Interestingly, increased access to contraception does result in decreased abortions, because you can’t abort a fetus if you can’t get pregnant. Duh!

You may have heard that this debate is about religious freedom, fellas, but I’m here to tell you: THIS DEBATE IS ABOUT FREEDOM FROM HAVING TO PRAY THAT SHE GETS HER PERIOD WHEN THE CONDOM BREAKS. And you’ve all been there (well, except for the gay guys).

You benefit (or you may have benefited at some point in your sexual history) from having your lady friend take those pills at the same time, every day, week in and week out, so you can get some sweet lovin’ without having to worry about making babies. You may not be footing the bill at the pharmacy today, but you would definitely be footing the bill through child support tomorrow if she weren’t taking those pills or getting those shots and something unplanned happened (oops!) .

So it’s time to Man Up for Your Lady Friends – because your deep voices are not being heard at the state capitol and we can’t fight this alone. Here’s what I need you to do: Write an email in your own words and send it to those seven Republicans, and do it before the close of business on Monday, April 2.

And because I don’t have a Y chromosome, I’m going to do most of the work for you – so pay attention:

1. Open your email program: You will be writing seven separate emails to the following senators: Rich Crandall of Mesa; Adam Driggs of Phoenix; Jerry Lewis of Mesa; John McComish of Phoenix; John Nelson of Litchfield Park; Steve Pierce of Prescott; and Michele Reagan of Scottsdale. Here’s the link to the Senate email contacts page. You can write one email and copy it seven times if you want, but make sure you change the names.
2. Identify yourself as a voter: I’m a married Republican man… I’m a single guy… I’m a young voting man… I am a male voter who lives in your district – and yes, it helps that you live in their district, but you don’t HAVE to live there, but it does matter that you are a guy. (It doesn’t matter if you haven’t voted in Arizona yet, I’ll make sure you get registered so we don’t have to go through this again, Ross. It really doesn’t even matter if you’re from Canada, Jason, what matters is that our elected officials are making decisions that will impact your personal life while you live in our state).
3. RESPECTFULLY thank these seven Republicans for voting AGAINST HB2625. This is important because they went against their party dogma by voting against this harebrained bill. They are under INCREDIBLE pressure to change their votes on the re-vote. By sending this email (and I already sent mine – and Patrick’s going to send his this afternoon), you as a DUDE are basically saying, “Dude, thanks for representing for us guys who like to have sex with the ladies. I appreciate your putting your wedding tackle on the line. Fight the good fight.” (But please don’t say that exactly). Did I mention that six of these seven Republicans were men? This is why it’s imperative for them to hear from men. They need political cover to say, “I’m hearing from women AND MEN from across the state who are opposed to this bill.”
4. Explain your position on the issue – and this is where your words are important. Do you believe that freedom of religion means freedom from religion? That as a Jewish man, David, you do not want Catholic beliefs being legislated to you? Do you believe that our state has more important priorities to address like rebuilding our economy and balancing our state budget and that shenanigans like this are distracting from real work, Phil? Do you believe that this is a personal issue between you and your girlfriend and that limited government has no place in your bedroom, Chris? Do you believe that this is poorly written legislation that will likely invite lengthy and expensive court challenges on what the definition of “moral objection” is – or that this law could easily morph from a moral objection against contraception to a moral objection against childhood vaccines or blood transfusions, Tom? Do you want to live out your retirement in peace without having to take in a (surprise!) grandchild, John? Is your wife covered on your health insurance, and if so, do you believe it is an intrusion into her privacy to have to go before strangers at an insurance company to plead her case to be covered, Mike? Well, do you, punks?
5. Tell them you hope they will exercise the same courage and vote against this bill when it comes up again. Yes, you have to say this, even if you are a Democrat. Remember, it was easy for the Democrats to vote against this bill.
6. Thank them for their service to our state. Hey, they ran for office so you don’t have to. They deserve credit for that.
7. Hit send and then encourage your other male friends to Man Up for THEIR Lady Friends.