OK Senate Should Sustain Anti-Abortion Legislation Vetoes

(Update: The Oklahoma Senate voted 36-12 to overide Gov. Brad Henry's veto of the two anti-abortion bills described below in this post.)

A relatively few Oklahoma Senators can do the right thing by sustaining Gov. Brad Henry’s veto of two anti-abortion bills.

One bill, House Bill 2780, would require women seeking abortions to undergo an ultrasound and listen to a description of it before the procedure was performed. The other bill, House Bill 2656, would prohibit “wrongful life” lawsuits against physicians who didn’t inform a woman of medical information that might lead to an abortion.

Both bills should absolutely not become law here. Henry’s vetoes were reasoned and pragmatic. The ultrasound bill is extreme government intrusion and doesn’t allow exceptions for victims of rape and incest. Henry argued that the bill is most likely unconstitutional as well.

State Sen. Andrew Rice, an opponent of the bill, has pointed out that the bill would require medical staff to use an invasive vaginal ultrasound for image clarity.

Rice said, in a widely circulated quote, “You're going to force someone to undergo an invasive medical procedure. You have to invasively put an instrument inside the woman. This could be your 15-year-old daughter who was raped."

Henry vetoed the wrongful life bill because he argued it could enable negligent doctors to withhold information without any repercussions. Who in the world would want a doctor to withhold medical information about her pregnancy?

The Oklahoma House has already overridden Henry’s vetoes. The Senate vote could happen as earlier as Tuesday. The overrides need a three-fourth majority because the bills were passed with emergency clauses. The Senate voted 35-11 to approve the bills, and 36 votes are needed to override the veto. There are 48 senators.

Courageous senators willing to do the right thing by standing up against this right-wing extremism should stop these bills.