Oklahoman vetoes ban on abortion

In this May 18, 2016, file  photo, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin walks on the floor of the Oklahoma House in Oklahoma City.
In this May 18, 2016, file photo, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin walks on the floor of the Oklahoma House in Oklahoma City.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin has vetoed legislation to make it a felony for doctors to perform an abortion except in cases to save the mother's life, a measure that would have effectively outlawed the procedure in the state.

In vetoing the measure Friday, just a day after the Legislature passed it, Fallin said it was vague and would not withstand a legal challenge.

"The bill is so ambiguous and so vague that doctors cannot be certain what medical circumstances would be considered 'necessary to preserve the life of the mother,'" said Fallin, a Republican who opposes abortion. "While I consistently have and continue to support a re-examination of the United States Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade, this legislation cannot accomplish that re-examination."

The bill's sponsor, Republican Sen. Nathan Dahm, said the measure was aimed at ultimately overturning the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide. Dahm said he was considering whether to try to override the governor's veto, which would require a two-thirds majority in each chamber, a threshold it did not meet in the House when it first passed. The bill passed on a 33-12 vote in the Senate with no debate on Thursday; it passed 59-9 in the 101-member House on April 21.

"Of course, I'll consider it," Dahm said. "I'm weighing my options."

The bill would have made it a felony punishable by up to three years in prison for anyone who performs an abortion, including doctors. State law already makes it a felony for anyone who is not a doctor to perform an abortion, and Dahm's bill would have removed the exemption for physicians.

The bill, which abortion-rights group Center for Reproductive Rights said was the first of its kind in the nation, also would restrict any physician who performs an abortion from obtaining or renewing a license to practice medicine in Oklahoma.

"Since I believe life begins at conception, it should be protected, and I believe it's a core function of state government to defend that life from the beginning of conception," said Dahm, from Broken Arrow.

But abortion-rights supporters and the state's medical association said the bill was unconstitutional. Sen. Ervin Yen, an Oklahoma City Republican and the only physician in the Senate, described the measure as "insane" and voted against it.

Before Fallin vetoed the bill, five other states this month quietly advanced their own measures to curb access to abortion.

Lawmakers in Arizona, Missouri, Kansas, Mississippi and Louisiana have pushed actions to halt funding to women's health clinics and expand waiting periods for women seeking abortions.

On May 6, the Missouri Legislature passed a budget that rejects $8 million in federal tax dollars for Planned Parenthood, which provides a wide range of women's health services, including abortions. Missouri is the second state after Texas to cut off such funding.

The same day, Arizona lawmakers passed a bill giving the state power to block Planned Parenthood from Medicaid funding. Republican Gov. Doug Ducey signed it Tuesday, granting the director of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System -- the state's Medicaid program -- new authority to decide which individuals or groups can't use the money.

On May 10, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, a Republican, signed a bill that prevents patients from paying for care at Planned Parenthood through Medicaid.

The next day, the Louisiana Legislature passed a measure tripling the state's mandatory waiting period for an abortion from 24 hours to 72. Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards signed it Thursday. Five other states require a three-day window: Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah and North Carolina.

Colleen McNicholas, a traveling gynecologist and obstetrician who performs abortions at clinics in Missouri and Kansas, said the Oklahoma bill grabs attention because "it's so egregious," but the seemingly smaller measures are greater threats to women's reproductive rights.

"The reality is, [the Oklahoma bill], if signed into law, really doesn't go through, anyway," McNicholas said. "We as a movement block or enjoin those laws."

The funding cuts or extended waiting times shrink access to abortion, McNicholas said, as does the 2013 Texas law that requires doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at hospitals that can choose to deny them, the subject of the Supreme Court's forthcoming Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt decision.

"Each time something like this happens, it creates more burden on providers," she said. "As that becomes more burdensome, clinics will close and women will lose more access"

Kristen Luker, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said states can regulate abortions as long as they don't place an "undue burden" on patients who try to obtain one. In other words: A state measure can't end abortion.

"Making it a felony is an undue burden," she said. "So, it probably would not stand [constitutional] scrutiny."

Mat Staver, who is the founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel and worked on the bill with Oklahoma lawmakers, said he hopes other states will follow Oklahoma's lead and enact similar abortion bans.

"We're ready to defend it," Staver said. "We believe it is a bold approach but the right one to draw a line in the sand and stand for the sanctity of human life. ... This particular bill puts a target on Roe v. Wade."

Information for this article was contributed by Sean Murphy of The Associated Press and by Danielle Paquette and Mark Berman of The Washington Post.

A Section on 05/21/2016

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