Abortion remains legal nationwide despite being ever more hampered by forced-birther machinations. It therefore seems impossible that the bill just passed by the Oklahoma House of Representatives to pull the license of any doctor who performs an abortion will pass constitutional muster.
Indeed, a few representatives—all of them Democrats—made that very argument during debate. The bill nevertheless passed the House overwhelmingly late Thursday, just as it passed by a lopsided vote in the heavily Republican state Senate last month. It now heads to Republican Gov. Mary Fallin for her signature. She has not indicated whether or not she will sign it.
Under the bill, any doctor who performs an abortion—except to save the life of the woman or to preserve her health—would have his or her license taken away. The Oklahoma State Medical Association has opposed the bill, viewing it as an attempt to intimidate physicians and inject politics into the physician-patient relationship.
Amanda Allen, the senior state legislative counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights, an advocacy group, said, "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."
During the Senate debate last month, Minority Leader John Sparks, a Democrat from Norman, called the bill unconstitutional on a number of grounds. “This bill will be reversed,” he said.
But supporters said it’s all about protecting the “sanctity of life.”
As representatives deliberated the bill Thursday night, Republican Rep. Dave Brumbaugh, the majority caucus chairman, responded to objections that the bill would mean expensive litigation in a losing case for the cash-strapped state government. He said: "If we take care of morality. God will take care of the economy."