Oklahoma Lege Passes Bill Banning Abor ... Wait, Abortion Was Still Legal In Oklahoma?

It might be upheld. This is no time for a de-fetus attitude.

The Oklahoma Senate made a strong bid for overtaking Texas in earning Molly Ivins's title of the "national laboratory for bad ideas" Thursday as it went ahead and passed a bill declaring abortion a felony and allowing the revocation of doctors' licenses for performing the still constitutionally protected procedure. Forget all that nonsense about ratcheting up the little delays and bullshit inconveniences -- Oklahoma's gonna try to take down Roe v. Wade at a single go.

Senate Bill 1552, by Sen. Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow, would also allow the revocation of medical licenses for physicians who perform abortions.

The measure passed by a vote of 33-12 with no debate.

This is the same terrible piece of legislation, SB 1552, that we reported on back in March when it was just a little zygote of a terrible idea. Happily, the law does at least include an exception allowing physicians to perform an abortion to save the life of the woman -- "the mother," in the bill's language -- but no exception for her health, since everyone knows sluts just go out and have third-trimester abortions because they had a headache. We would note that even that "life of the mother" clause has an elegant exception: "No such condition may be determined to exist if it is based on a claim or diagnosis that the woman may engage in conduct which she intends to result in her death." You say you'll kill yourself if you don't get an abortion? Go ahead and try it, slut.

The bill now goes to Gov. Mary Fallin, who hasn't said whether she'll sign it, but come on, it's Mary Fallin we're talking about here.

SB 1552 is a direct challenge to years of Supreme Court decisions on abortion; the 1992 ruling in Planned Parenthood v. Casey held that states could not ban abortion outright, but could enact restrictions as long as they didn't place an "undue burden" on a woman seeking an abortion -- a phrase under which the Court has since been happy to allow a hell of a lot of restrictions, but not an actual ban.

In addition to SB 1552, the Oklahoma House passed and sent to the Senate HB 2797, a "Humanity of the Unborn Child Act" Thursday requiring the state Department of Health to issue materials "for the purpose of achieving an abortion-free society." The law would require anti-abortion materials be provided to schools, as well as a state-run directory of "crisis pregnancy centers." And what sort of educational materials would be promulgated?

Such materials shall be developed from the most readily available, accurate and up-to-date information and shall clearly and consistently teach that abortion kills a living human being.

That seems reasonable, as no available, accurate and up-to-date information exists to suggest otherwise. If the Senate passes this thing, we guess the very nature of reality will have been determined by law, as any good law should do.

And yet there are still some delusional people who seem to think abortion remains legal in the United States, like Sen. Ervin Yen, a Republican from Oklahoma City and the only physician serving in the Senate, who called the abortion ban passed Thursday “insane” and said he was certain it would be challenged in court, at great expense to the state. But hey, what's a little money to save the babies? Just as long as Oklahoma cuts back more on welfare once the little moochers make it out of the womb.

In unrelated news, Bernie-or-Bust holdouts continued to maintain that they'll vote for Donald Trump, because there's literally no difference between him and Hillary Clinton, or the Supreme Court justices each would nominate.

[ Tulsa World / IBT / SB 1552 / HB 2797 ]