Abortion bill targets doctors in Oklahoma

Legislation would subject them to criminal charges

The Oklahoma Legislature on Thursday passed a bill that effectively would ban abortions by revoking the medical licenses of doctors who perform them and subjecting them to felony charges and prison — the first legislation of its kind.

In a year in which states have tried to outlaw abortions at 20 weeks of pregnancy, to ban the main surgical method used in the second trimester and to shut down abortion clinics with onerous regulations, Oklahoma’s bill is the most far-reaching.

The measure, which passed the Republicandominated Senate by a vote of 33-12, will be presented to Gov. Mary Fallin, a Republican, who will have five days to sign it, veto it or allow it to take effect without her signature.

If it becomes law, it is certain to face a quick challenge in state or federal court. And because the Supreme Court has consistently ruled that women have a right to obtain abortions until the fetus is viable outside the womb, legal experts say, it soon will be declared unconstitutional.

Welcomes a challenge

That has not deterred anti-abortion politicians in a state dominated by conservative Republicans. Some say they welcome the chance to make a strong statement and to engage the issues in court.

“Most people know I am for defending rights,” Sen. Nathan Dahm, the author of the bill, told The Oklahoman. “Those rights begin at conception.”

Dahm told reporters that he knew the measure would be challenged but expressed hope that the case would lead the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Fallin, who has signed several anti-abortion bills that were later blocked by the courts, will not comment on the new bill “until she and her staff have had a chance to review it,” said Michael McNutt, her communications director.

But some legislators called the measure an illconsidered diversion.

“I’m pro-life and a Roman Catholic, but I don’t think we should waste our time on legislation that someone will declare unconstitutional,” said Sen. Ervin Yen.

Watching Texas case

In an open letter Thursday, the Center for Reproductive Rights, a legal group based in New York, urged Fallin to veto what it said was a “blatantly unconstitutional measure.”

The bill would strip doctors who perform abortions of their medical licenses unless the procedure was necessary to save a woman’s life. The felony provision does not include that exception.

Currently, only two clinics in Oklahoma, one in Norman and one in Tulsa, provide abortions. A third, owned by Trust Women, a foundation based in Wichita, Kan., is to open next month.

Oklahoma’s proposal to criminalize abortion may be the most stringent, but it is one of many new measures that continue in conservative states. This year, South Dakota joined 12 other states in banning abortions at 20 weeks of pregnancy, with a similar bill in South Carolina awaiting the signature of Gov. Nikki R. Haley.

Texas regulations that could force a majority of the state’s abortion clinics to close are the subject of a major Supreme Court case. The rules require that doctors have admitting privileges at local hospitals and that abortion clinics meet the stringent building and staffing standards of ambulatory surgery centers.

The decision, expected in June, could have major effects on access to abortion in several other states.