Oklahoma House, Senate Override Another Gov. Henry Veto

Yesterday, the Oklahoma State Senate voted to override Gov. Brad Henry's veto of HB 3284, the Statistical Reporting of Abortions Act. The House had done the same thing late Monday.

So, unless the bill is challenged legally, it will take effect in 2012. The law requires that all women seeking an abortion must fill out a 37-question anonymous survey first prior to the abortion. The women's identity will remain confidential at all times. The law also requires abortionists to report to the state any medical complications from abortion which occur, thus shining the light of day on a deadly procedure, which in addition to needlessly taking an unborn child's life, also often harms young women in the process, sometimes causing sterility or even ending their life. What's the purpose behind the law?

This new law will give the state of Oklahoma and public health officials anonymous information about the reasons why women seek abortions. If abortion is truly to become a rare thing, as its supporters suggest it should be, then doesn't it make sense for government officials, policymakers, health officials, and citizens to better understand the demographic information and the various reasons why women seek abortion in the first place? Then, our state can seek to remedy some of those problems women face.

Of course, supporters of abortion rights claim Oklahoma is acting in a draconian way. They say the sky is falling, and women are being targeted unfairly by the ultrasound law and this Statistical Reporting of Abortions Act. The truth is -- Oklahoma is simply following the law as laid down in the 1992 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The Court affirmed a woman's right to abortion, but said the various states could, if they so chose, reasonably regulate access to abortion so long as the regulations did not pose an "undue burden" on women seeking abortion.

If a lawsuit against HB 3284 is filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights in New York City, as they did recently against HB 2780, the ultrasound bill, then the litigation will likely center around whether or not what Oklahoma legislators are doing via these laws represents an "undue burden" to a woman's alleged constitutional right of access to abortion.