Give Oklahoma lawmakers some credit. They don't mess around when it comes to pandering to their fellow Evangelical voters!
Yesterday afternoon, the Oklahoma House decided to close the first week of the 2020 legislative session by passing yet another (likely) unconstitutional anti-abortion bill that, this time around, would revoke the licenses of physicians who perform abortions – which, at last check, is still a legal medical procedure.
The bill – which is backed by the Oklahoma Republican party, religious groups and the Oklahoma Back Alley Abortion Association (OBAAA) – has naturally generated the typical amount of media attention and controversy.
Here are details via The Tulsa World:
In its first meaningful action of the 2020 legislative session, the Oklahoma House of Representatives on Thursday passed and sent to the Senate legislation that would effectively ban almost all abortions in the state by revoking the licenses of doctors performing the procedure, except in situations threatening the life of a woman.
House Bill 1182, by Rep. Jim Olsen, R-Roland, 71-21 along party lines, with eight members absent or not voting. The measure would revoke for one year the medical licenses of doctors performing abortions except when a women's life is in danger. It specifically excludes the women's mental state as a consideration in such decision.
Whew. That's a relief. I was worried the State House was actually going to focus on important issues facing Oklahoma, before they passed unconstitutional legislation that wastes our time and resources. It's good to see they have their political priorities straight!
The fact that Jim Olsen wrote this bill isn't very surprising. As we learned during his bizarre social media rant over "silly" women wanting to go topless, telling women what they can and cannot do with their body is an obsession of his.
In typical Rube-publican fashion, Olsen came up with a weak, overreaching analogy to justify wanting state government to overreach into other people's lives.