Yesterday, our state legislature overturned Governor Henry's veto of some ludicrous anti-abortion legislation. One of the laws they overturned was the infamous ultrasound abortion law. Basically, this law requires that a woman must have an electric wand inserted into her vagina so she can see an ultrasound of a fetus that she's about to have aborted. Nothing weird about that, right?
This isn't the first time that our legislature has passed this bill or had to overturn the Governor's veto. They initially passed similar legislation a couple of years ago, but a court eventually ruled the laws were unconstitutional based on a technicality back in August. Here's a snippet of what we wrote when that happened:
I know we've mentioned this before, but for a legislature that allegedly wants to keep government interference out of our lives and medical decisions, they sure did a good job of passing laws that put the government right in the middle of one of the most personal and difficult medical decisions imaginable. Normally, you would call a group like that "Hypocrites." But here in Oklahoma, we call just it the Republican controlled Legislature.
It will be interesting to see how the legislature reacts to this "defeat" in the next legislative session. The judge's decision is already being challenged, so they may not have to do anything. Maybe if the appeal works they'll then do something productive like make insurance companies provide coverage for autism. I doubt it, though. They'll probably just force physicians to recite passages from Leviticus before performing physical examinations or just ban erotic nurse fantasies form hospitals. Whatever they do, it won't surprise me.
Well, I guess my predictions didn't come true. Instead of fighting the appeal, the idiots on 23rd and Lincoln just spent their time rewriting a new batch of theologically inspired legislation. I bet they even hired a calligrapher to inscribe the law on old looking paper. That way it would have a genuinely archaic 12th-century feel to it. If you're going to spend your time working on something ridiculous, you might as well go all out.
On a positive note, though, outside groups are already suing to have the law overturned. Hell, even Governor Henry admits that the laws will likely be ruled unconstitutional. I guess for those logical and rational Oklahomans who value the civil liberties and personal freedoms of other people, that's good news. And for all you right wing nut job hypocrites who want Oklahoma to be an intolerant police state? I hope Braum's screws up your next order. Take that!
