One little drawback to Oklahoma Republicans’ successful crusade to ban abortion across the state is that it’s now a lot harder for them to pander to Christian nationalist voters by passing new anti-abortion laws.
After all, once you’ve already banned abortion, what’s left to do? Ban it again? Ban it harder? Pass a law banning people from thinking about abortion too close to a Walgreens?
Well, this is Oklahoma, so the answer is apparently yes.
Via KOSU:
A bill targeting abortion-inducing drugs run by Oklahoma Republicans over the course of several years is headed to the governor's desk.
House Bill 1168 would make it a felony to deliver or possess with the intent to deliver an abortion-inducing drug to someone who plans to use it to terminate a pregnancy.
Medications referenced in the bill include misoprostol and methotrexate, but it specifies this would not apply when they are prescribed for other uses, including chemotherapy or treating an ectopic pregnancy and spontaneous miscarriage. The measure also states that its text should not be construed to impact contraception access.
The penalty for "trafficking" or "attempting to traffic" these drugs would be up to $100,000 in fines, ten years in prison or both.
Really? That’s the best they can do?
I’m not a lawyer – I only pretend to be one when talking to women at bars – but doesn’t this seem like a pretty messy charge to prove?
For example, what if the person says they were delivering the pills for one of the many other legal medical uses listed in the bill? Or claims they had no idea what the recipient planned to do with them? Or tells the cop they’re in the middle of having a spontaneous miscarriage?
Of course, I guess you can’t blame lawmakers for not really thinking this through.
Like most anti-abortion bills in Oklahoma, this bill wasn’t designed to solve some major, well-documented problem.
Its primary point is to scare people, intimidate doctors and pharmacists, and let lawmakers go back to their churches, donors, and Derplahoman Facebook pages and say, “See? We’re still fighting abortion, even though we already banned it.”
If you need proof, just check out comments by the measure’s author, David Bullard.
Probably inspired by decades of never being able to please a woman, he claims the point of the bill is to prevent more babies from being murdered:
Bill author Sen. David Bullard, R-Durant, said the intent is to reduce self-managed medication abortions by targeting how pills enter the state. Republicans also said this could prevent women from being forced to have abortions in sex trafficking situations.
"If we actually can stop the trafficking of those pills coming in with the intent to murder unborn children, then, absolutely, we save lives," Bullard said.
Republicans argued against the safety of these medications, saying they harm women and fetuses.
"We are starting to learn more and more about the dangers of this medication," Bullard said. "I also think that we have to have the conversation on the mental health of the woman as well."
Yep, that’s right. The woman who simply wants to make her own private health care decision – but can’t because regressive lawmakers in her home state already took that right away – is the one whose mental health we should worry about, says the guy using her pain as another cheap campaign prop to show he still hates abortion.
Good to know.
Although this bill is a tad feckless and inconsequential – and was designed to pander more than protect anyone – the real scary part is what comes next.
You see, some of the Capitol’s more committed abortion abolitionists know this bill is mostly symbolic, and they want to make things super-ultra-regressive.
For example:
Sen. Warren Hamilton, R-McCurtain, argued the legislation isn't enough, calling it "weak." Hamilton has signed on to legislation that would adjust the state's definition of homicide to include abortion and allow mothers to be prosecuted. He and Sen. Darcy Jech, R-Kingfisher, voted against the measure.
"We all know what the right thing to do is. Every one of us campaigned on pro-life things, on abolitionist things, but we all said the same thing: we want to end abortion," Hamilton said. "We could do that. This bill does not make that happen."
On one hand, it’s kind of refreshing to see a right-wing lawmaker see through the pandering for what it is and call the bill “weak.”
On the other hand, holy shit! I think we just got a terrifying sneak preview of future anti-abortion bills in Oklahoma.
Seriously, if you think sending someone to prison for 10 years for “trafficking abortion pills” is nuts, just wait until the “charge women with homicide for getting an abortion” movement starts making the rounds at the Capitol.
That will take Oklahoma’s anti-abortion pandering to a new, somehow crazier, and far more consequential extreme – and we’ll be here to chronicle it when it does.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.
