Little by little, the concept that deceiving someone about conduct involving their reproductive organs is a crime is seeping into society’s consciousness. This past Wednesday, Texas Gov. Greg Wiley took a giant step forward that brings this critical issue to light by signing Senate Bill #1259 into law. It becomes effective on September 1.

The new Texas law is based on the case of Eve Wiley whose birth resulted from the artificial insemination of her mother by Dr. Kim McMorries. Instead of impregnating her by the sperm of the donor she’d chosen, McMorries introduced his own sperm. Wiley didn’t learn of his duplicity until she became an adult and lobbied for a new law to prohibit his behavior.

“Lobbying for this bill was the purpose in my pain,” Wiley said. Her feelings explain why so many of us set a course for righting the harm we struggled with. And it underscores how doing so can help you get your power back when it was stripped away by the wicked cruelty of others.

While Wiley’s heroic efforts have put sexual assault by fraud on the map in Texas, we still have a long way to go. Recognition of a crime must be uniform. If McMorries’ fraud to undermine his patients’ self determination over their reproductive organs is a crime – and it is – all fraud to undermine your self determination over your reproductive organs is a crime.

Texas has a clear understanding of consent that it applies to fraud in cases of theft. But law enforcement fails to apply the state’s consent provision to sexual conduct. In Texas Penal Code, “Consent is not effective if induced by force, threat or fraud.” The Texas authorities must wake up to the realization that consent is consent in all matters.

Excuses, excuses!

McMorries tried to excuse his behavior by stating it was acceptable and common practice at the time. His mentality is at the core of why we face an uphill battle that must be waged NOW to prevent future acts of duplicitous sexual conduct. Society seems to think defrauding people of sex is an acceptable common practice.

Insisting that every person has the inherent right to knowledgeably chose who to sexually engage with and what sexual acts to engage in is just plain common sense…. just like Eve’s mother had the right to chose the sperm she wanted for her child.

Recognizing McMorries conduct as a crime helps society see the larger picture….. all sexual deception is a crime. Consent is never present when one is duped into agreement. This awakening is coming. And you can help speed the Consent Train down the track!

 

Here’s what you can do to help…..

Donate to ConsentAwareness.Net

Watch this TEDxTalk

Read Your Consent – The Key to Conquering Sexual Assault

Call your legislator and demand change!