Three Mississippi lawmakers sponsored a bill this week that would make it illegal for restaurants to serve the obese.

The lawmakers who sponsored Bill No. 282 say they're not trying to discriminate against the overweight in Mississippi, they're trying to start a dialogue about how to fight the problem of obesity in the Magnolia State.

The proposed law would make it illegal for state-licensed restaurants to serve food to the obese.

Critics say government shouldn't try to be the food police and they say this latest attempt at public health legislation leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

"What kind of crap is that?" asks James Kelley of Clarksdale, Mississippi.  "What do I think about it?  Leave people alone.  Let them eat what they want.  Let them be."

Dedra Holley from Robinsonville, agrees.  "How can you be serious?" she says.  "So if they discriminate against obese people who are they going to discriminate against after that?  People with long hair?  Short hair?  White people?  Black people?  I mean, that's absurd."

You'd be hard-pressed to find any Mississippian who supports the idea.  Even the man who sponsored the bill, Representative Ted Mayhall, says it should never pass.

"I do not have any intention of this becoming law," says the Desoto County Republican.  "I don't think it has a Chinaman's chance.  I'm against intrusive government.  I don't think that's what we're here for and what we should be doing."

So why draft such controversial legislation?

"The reason I put the bill in," says Mayhall, "was to call attention to the seriousness of the obesity epidemic in Mississippi."

Mayhall says 30-percent of adults in Mississippi are obese.  The state ranks number one in the nation for obesity three years running.

And with Mississippi's Medicaid program $168 million dollars in the red this year,  Rep. Mayhall says illnesses related to obesity, including diabetes, are draining the state's budget.

His efforts to raise awareness about the issue have the national media calling with questions and constituents calling him out.   By noon Friday, his answering machine was flooded with some not-so-nice messages and his cell phone was ringing constantly.

One caller told him, "Why don't you move to China or Russia instead of the U.S.  Last I heard, this was still a free country."

There are plenty of skeptics who say Mayhall's plan to spark a change in the eating habits of Mississippians won't work.

"I don't think it's going to put a dent in the whole problem," says Dedra Holley.  "I just can't believe it will."

"You're not going to be able to force someone to do something they're not ready to do," says James Kelley of Southaven.  "Is this a Communist state?"

Despite the verbal attacks and all the doubters, Mayhall, a 68 year-old former pharmaceutical rep, says he's determined to stir up the debate.

"I'm a big boy," he says.  "I can take anything that comes.  I don't care.   If it'll save three or four lives, it's well worth it."

Before Mayhall and Representatives John Read and Bobby Shows introduced their legislation, they got the green light from Mississippi’s Public Health chairman and from Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour.

No one expects the bill to pass.  They do expect a lively discussion in subcommittee about ways the state can solve its' obesity problems.

It's your turn to Speak Up! Memphis.