On Wednesday, April 9, SB 1878, an omnibus anti-abortion bill, passed the Oklahoma Senate by a vote of 38 - 10. The draconian bill forces doctors to perform an invasive procedure on a woman one hour prior to an abortion, including verbal descriptions of the fetus.
This is bad enough in the most ideal circumstances, but imagine you are the victim of rape or incest, and are pregnant not through choice, but through a violent crime. This law will not exclude you, but force you to endure yet another intrusion into your autonomy and privacy.
Women in Oklahoma and their allies are making a last ditch effort to stop this monstrous bill from becoming law. Please read on to see how you can help.
Today, Planned Parenthood put out an email appeal to try to get enough state Senators to uphold a veto by the Governor.
Update: At 7:30pm central time, it was announced that Gov. Henry vetoed the bill.
We need one more vote to help sustain the Governor's veto of SB 1878. Once we get the vote, we believe the Governor will go ahead with a veto. We are focusing on Senator Sean Burrage between now and midnight to convince him to support a Governor's veto on SB 1878. If you know Senator Burrage, live in his district or know someone who lives in his district, we need you to contact his office at 405-521-5555 and ask him to vote to sustain a veto of SB 1878. His email address is burrage@oksenate.gov.
The Working Families Project is also in action on this:
Oklahoma First State in the Nation to Require Vaginal Probe Ultrasounds before Abortions
Oklahoma City, OK April 16, 2008 - With Senate Bill 1878 on the Governor's desk and a slim chance of sustaining a veto it appears that once again Oklahoma Legislators will make medical decisions for women in Oklahoma and become first in the nation to require vaginal probe ultrasounds one hour prior to an abortion.
Once this legislation is signed into law women and children who are victims of rape or incest will not be excluded from the vaginal probe ultrasound one hour prior to an abortion. These women and children will be further traumatized when the physician is required by law to give a graphic description of the fetus as they view the ultrasound.
Women and young girls who are victims of rape and incest are suffering from the crime committed against them and now the State of Oklahoma will punish them once again with this invasive procedure which is cruel and inhumane punishment of victims who have suffered enough.
Oklahoma has shown no mercy to the victims of violent crimes such as rape and incest with Senate Bill 1878. We believe that Oklahoma should not victimize these women and young girls again with vaginal probes, ultrasound images and verbal descriptions of a fetus that was not created with their consent or choice but as the result of a violent crime.