Okla. advances bill to restrict abortions
Oklahoma is just a signature away from revoking the licenses of most doctors who perform abortions.
Under a bill passed by the legislature this past week, doctors who perform abortions — defined in the measure as “unprofessional conduct” — would be barred from obtaining or renewing their medical licenses.
The bill would not apply to abortions performed to save a mother’s life, although the bill lacks similar exceptions for abortions performed in cases of rape or incest.
“This is our proper function, to protect life,” the bill’s sponsor, Republican State Sen. Nathan Dahm said last month.
The bill passed the Senate early last month and the House on Thursday. Both houses are controlled by the GOP. Republican Gov. Mary Fallin has not yet said whether she will sign the bill, Reuters reports.
“Oklahoma politicians have made it their mission year after year to restrict women’s access vital health care services, yet this total ban on abortion is a new low,” Amanda Allen, senior state legislative counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights, which advocates for abortion rights, said in a statement.
Several Democrats, outnumbered roughly 2-to-1 in the House, pushed back against the bill in debate on Thursday, suggesting it was misguided and unconstitutional.
Democratic State Rep. Emily Virgin asked the bill’s House co-sponsor, Republican David Brumbaugh about a statement from the Oklahoma State Medical Association, which said it took no position on abortion itself but did oppose the legislation on the grounds that it overrode physician judgment.
After about an hour and a half of discussion, Brum- baugh stood before the House to make his case.
He also suggested that the erosion of the family is to blame for poverty, welfare, drug addiction and other societal problems, quoting a friend who suggested that addressing one will resolve the other.
“If we take care of the morality, God will take care of the economy,” he said.
In the end, the bill easily passed the House in a 59to-9 vote, with 33 members not voting.