Omnibus pro-life bill passes
Good news from the State Capitol -- State Rep. Pam Peterson and State Sen. Todd Lamb's omnibus pro-life bill is on the way to the Governor's desk.
Via Steve Fair:
Today the Oklahoma State Senate passed SB 1878 authored by Senator Todd Lamb(the former Secret Service Agent, not the race car driver), R-Edmond, and Rep. Pam Peterson, R-Tulsa. It passed the Senate 38-10 with a bipartisan vote. The bill contains several pro-life initiatives. By combining various pieces of legislation from Lamb and members of the House, the bill now creates the Freedom of Conscience Act which protects the rights of healthcare providers to refuse to take part in the destruction of human life.
Via Mike McCarville:
By combining various pieces of legislation from Lamb and members of the House, the bill now creates the Freedom of Conscience Act which protects the rights of healthcare providers to refuse to take part in the destruction of human life (SB 1878--Sen. Lamb, Rep. Peterson); regulates the use of the dangerous chemical pill RU-486, used when the unborn child is about two months old (HB 2181--Rep. McNiel); ensures the mother's consent to abort is truly voluntary, and protects against coerced abortions (HB 3059--Sen. Williamson, Rep. Hamilton); provides a woman with an ultrasound of her unborn child which she can view prior to undergoing the abortion (HB 3144--Sen. Lamb, Rep. Billy); cultivates respect for disabled children by banning the wrongful-life lawsuits that claim a baby would have been better off aborted (HB 2814--Sen. Crain, Rep. Sullivan).
While the bill had bipartisan support and will probably be signed by Gov. Brad Henry, a Democrat, such a strong pro-life bill would not have made it this far when the Legislature was fully under Democratic control. Republican leadership (complete in the House, shared in the Senate) means that pro-life advocates control the flow of legislation in both houses. While some individual Democratic legislators are pro-life, their leadership hasn't been pro-life for many years.
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Great news!
And with Roberts and Alito on the court, we have a much better chance of seeing state-level pro-Life initiatives upheld by the Supreme Court. :)
Hopefully this is an op/ed piece, otherwise, it shows a lack of integrity as a journalist. I really think that once more, we're going to be viewed as living in a backwards, redneck state, just as we did when the state government tried to ban latinos. I just LOVE how republican right-wing conservative "people" are in charge of our state and Governor Henry is doing nothing but signing off on what seems to be somewhat unfair policy. I would like to actually see some of this crap come to a vote for once instead of letting these people in the state government making all of our decisions for us. Well, might not always be too bad. Oklahomans haven't always shown ourselves to be the wisest of the general population.
SO let's just catch a train back to 1850 and maybe everyone will be happy.
Somehow I have the feeling you'd only be persuaded of my integrity as a journalist if I described the bill as a "tragic setback for a woman's right to choose" and a "victory for anti-choice zealots."
When did our state government try to ban latinos?
Conservative people are in charge because conservatives (both Democratic and Republican) are in the majority in Oklahoma, and the vast majority of Oklahomans believe in the sanctity of human life.
If you don't like a law, you always have the option of an initiative petition to repeal it.