Although they’ve been letting us down in recent years, I guess it’s time to score one for the Oklahoma Judicial Branch.
Yesterday afternoon, they narrowly terminated an element of Oklahoma’s abortion ban, ruling women can now get an abortion when it risks their health, and not just wait until it's a full-blown medical emergency.
Here’s what they said:
"We know of no other law that requires one to wait until there is an actual medical emergency in order to receive treatment when the harmful condition is known or probable to occur in the future," the opinion reads.
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"Requiring one to wait until there is a medical emergency would further endanger the life of the pregnant woman and does not serve a compelling state interest."
That makes sense.
If you know that a tumor growing on your liver, you don’t have to wait until your liver shuts down to get it removed. I guess the same should go for a microscopic human organism that's growing inside a woman.
If we know it’s going to grow bigger and bigger and endanger the life of that woman when it tries to exit her body, we might as well let them deal with it early on in the process when the organism is super small, easily treatable, and the whole situation less traumatic, as opposed to waiting until the woman’s life is in danger or on the line.
House Speak Charless McCall – a huge proponent of the government telling women what they can or cannot due to their own body – seemed to brush off the court’s ruling:
Governor Stitt, on the other hand, was saltier than a slab of Swadley’s brisket, blaming “activist” judges:
I wholeheartedly disagree with this activist majority's opinion creating a right to an abortion in Oklahoma. Alarmingly, this activist majority acted out of hand by making a policy decision that belongs to the people. Chief Justice Kane said it best in his well-written dissent: 'This Court should adhere to the Constitution given to us, not craft what we believe to be a "better" Constitution. The power lies with the people.'"
Yeah, with all respect to Justice Kane – a guy who was conveniently appointed to the court by Governor Stitt – I’m pretty sure our constitution also says “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” It’s hard to argue those freedoms exist when the state makes you wait to make a medical decision until your life is on the line.
In an apparent effort to remind us all that he’s an ignorant, simple-minded rube who lacks sophisticated thinking skills after enduring a lifetime of warped right-wing religious propaganda, Stitt also added this…
"Furthermore, in their 20 page opinion, not once was there any mention of the unborn. From the moment life begins at conception, we have a responsibility to do everything we can to protect that baby's life and the life of the mother. That is what I believe and that is what the majority of Oklahomans believe which is why the Legislature has passed, and I have signed, numerous laws banning abortion in Oklahoma.”
Yeah, we’re going to protect the lives of babies that aren’t babies and their moms by, checks notes, forcing the mom to wait until the last minute to terminate a pregnancy that’s already likely doomed. Good to know.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.
