“Under the bill, doctors who perform an abortion could face three years in prison, and lose their medical license”.
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“If Congress were to pass legislation making abortion illegal and the federal courts upheld this legislation, or any state were permitted to ban abortion under state and federal law, the doctor or any other person performing this illegal act upon a woman would be held legally responsible, not the woman”, Trump said at the time.
This sweeping measure was sent to Gov. Mary Fallin (R) for her signature.
Dahm says he’s hopeful the measure could lead to overturning Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion nationwide.
“Since I believe life begins at conception, it should be protected, and I believe it’s a core function of state government to defend that life from the beginning of conception”, said Republican state Sen.
The Oklahoma House also passed anti-abortion legislation on Thursday.
But even if the measure becomes law, it’s unlikely to withstand legal challenges, said David Gans, civil rights director at the Constitutional Accountability Center in Washington, D.C.
Julie Burkhart, founder of Trust Women, said in an interview with The Eagle last week that Oklahoma City is now the largest metropolitan area without an abortion provider. “It’s sort of flouting what the Supreme Court has said is a fundamental right and the law of the land”. The House passed the current measure Thursday 69-15 and the bill heads again to the Senate for consideration.
It’s incredibly disheartening for women’s rights advocates to witness the proliferation of a bill that overtly infringe on the anatomy of both doctors to do their jobs effectively and of women to make make informed, healthy medical decisions for themselves, all in the name of what some politicians believe to be morally right.
The bill itself is unconstitutional and the attempt to dodge the SCOTUS decision of Roe v. Wade is obvious. The legislation passed Thursday would redact that exception, as well as revoke the licenses of physicians who perform abortions, unless the mother’s life is in danger, writes Politico.
Now it lands on the desk of Republican Governor Mary Fallin – who is anti-abortion. The Center for Reproductive Rights says the bill is unconstitutional.
“The Supreme Court has never wavered from [abortion’s legal status], despite numerous opportunities to do so”, she added. “It is a shameful new low for the anti-choice movement”, Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said in a statement. “By completely banning abortions, Senate Bill 1552 wholly conflicts with all U.S. Supreme Court precedent on abortion while ignoring the integral part that abortion plays in helping to achieve equality for women”. The organization called on Fallin to veto the bill.
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Earlier this year, Oklahoma Senate Minority Leader John Sparks said the proposal to criminalize abortion is unconstitutional in several ways, particularly because it’s an ex post facto law – meaning it could punish offenders retroactively.
