Not willing to wait for the U.S. Supreme Court to make the leaked decision tossing Roe v. Wade official, lawmakers in Oklahoma have passed the nation’s most restrictive abortion law yet. They’ve taken the medieval laws from Texas and Idaho and Mississippi and made them even more punitive, dangerous, and unconstitutional.
The law bans abortion at the moment of fertilization, which is not actually a medically possible thing to define outside of an IVF lab—the moment a sperm is absorbed into an egg is not an observable event being that it happens inside the Fallopian tubes where, presumably, there aren’t any cameras. Or windows. Never mind, that’s a baby, Oklahoma Republicans say, even if it might never actually end up implanting and growing into an actual human. Inconsistently, but thank whoever for small favors, the law would explicitly allow for emergency contraception, or Plan B. Which means that maybe these lawmakers do understand how some of this works, because Plan B is contraception, preventing ovulation. See, if they really want to, they can understand this stuff. Sort of.
In a nod to, oh, I don’t know, pretend reasonableness? Oklahoma’s Republicans do exempt any procedure to “save the life or preserve the health of the unborn child,” to “remove a dead unborn child caused by spontaneous abortion,” or to remove an ectopic pregnancy. Additionally, they do extend the courtesy of allowing an abortion to save the life of the pregnant person “in a medical emergency”—but not their health. There are also exceptions for rape, sexual assault, or incest which the legislature did not allow for in the last ban Oklahoma Republicans enacted a few weeks ago. But those crimes have to be reported to law enforcement before the abortion can be allowed. Because of course that’s going to happen, the 12-year-old going to the cops to report being raped by a family member.
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In order to spread the punishment around, Oklahoma will use a similar enforcement mechanism as Texas and Idaho—a bounty system that allows people to file lawsuits against providers or people seeking abortions. To twist the knife, they will include anyone who “knowingly engages in conduct that aids or abets the performance or inducement of an abortion,” including paying for one as well as anyone who even “intends to engage” in either of the two actions above. The person getting the abortion is spared from that, because again Oklahoma Republicans are just so damned compassionate. But if you donate to one of the funds that might help an Oklahoman travel to get an abortion, you could be sued for $10,000 and compensatory damages by a bounty hunter.
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There are a lot of problems with this bill, even considering how nice Republicans decided to be to pregnant people. For example, punishing people who are actually trying to have a baby if something happens to go wrong. “Looking at the language, it’s hard to see how it wouldn’t affect in vitro fertilization because it talks about as soon as the ovum and the sperm meet, and the egg is fertilized, that means that’s a person,” Oklahoma state Rep. Emily Virgin (D) said. “That’s what happens with in vitro fertilization, you create embryos.”
“The litany of oppressive and punitive anti-abortion laws that have come into being this year signal to the people of Oklahoma that their agency does not matter, their dreams do not matter, and that their lives do not matter,” Zack Gingrich-Gaylord, spokesman for Oklahoma abortion provider Trust Woman said in a statement.
He called it “a gratuitous and cruel flaunting of power by anti-abortion legislators.” Gov. Keven State signed a new law banning abortion at six weeks—with no rape or incest exceptions—just two weeks ago. “Our patients are frightened, confused about the new reality they now live in,” he said. “They are angry at a government that continues to demonstrate a reckless and enthusiastic disregard for their lives.”
Planned Parenthood is taking Oklahoma to court.
That’s essential. It’s also futile given the current composition of the court. It might delay enactment of the law some, however. Stitt will sign it, he’s vowed to sign any forced birth bill that comes across his desk.
The one way this gets fixed and our rights are restored and protected—literally the only single way—is with a different Supreme Court. Yes, Congress could pass a law codifying Roe, but states would challenge it and this Supreme Court would strike it down. The sooner every elected Democrat starts advocating for it, along with the majority of Democratic voters and the advocacy groups, the better.
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