The Oklahoman Prints Op-Ed on HB 3077

Yesterday, The Oklahoman printed an important Op-Ed jointly authored by OFPC Executive Director Mike Jestes, Family Research Council Senior Fellow Dr. David Prentice, and Jennifer Lahl, R.N., with the Center for Bioethics & Culture.

The March 17th Op-Ed deals with HB 3077, a bill by Rep. Rebecca Hamiltion (D-Oklahoma City), which would, if approved in the Senate and signed by Gov. Brad Henry, prevent the paying of compensation to women for what is, in effect, the sale of their eggs.

The intent of the bill is NOT to prevent medical procedures like in-vitro fertilization by married couples, but rather to prevent the development of an unethical market in Oklahoma for the human eggs of young women.

HB 3077 passed the state House by a large margin and now is in the state Senate, where lobbyists for the state medical association are reportedly trying to kill the bill.

If HB 3077 becomes law, women will continue to be able to donate their eggs to fertility clinics in Oklahoma; it will just become illegal to sell their eggs to fertility clinics for paid compensation.

Click here to view the Op-Ed.

The Choice: ‘Deem and Pass’ OR ‘Pass and Stow’?

The time is upon us.

For the American people and for our posterity, which will it be in the House of Representatives?

Will it be the House of ‘Deem and Pass’ or the House of ‘Pass and Stow’?

Lawsuit Ready to Challenge Constitutionality of Health Care Passage Process

Today, it's unclear whether the U.S. House of Representatives will pass the health care takeover bill. Democratic leaders don't yet have the votes, apparently, to takeover one-sixth of the U.S. economy. Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) and his allies remain committed to vote against the bill due to its inclusion of public financing of abortion.

Of course, reports are circulating that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will rely on the so-called Slaughter Rule to "deem the bill to have passed in the House" without actually voting on the Senate version of the bill. This moves the bill forward and allows House members from actually having to go on record for this unpopular bill.

If that happens in violation of the U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 7, then constitutional challenges will surely be offered in court. In fact, Landmark Legal Foundation President Mark Levine (also a well-known talk radio host) has already drafted a legal Complaint, which can be viewed by clicking here.

The House vote (or maneuver) can be expected by Saturday. All members of the Oklahoma delegation are committed to vote against the bill.

If this socialistic health care plan passes, a recent survey found that up to 46 percent of doctors nationwide may leave the practice of medicine, thus setting the stage for future doctor shortages and medical rationing, just as the opponents have predicted.

Human Trafficking Bill Clears Senate, Heads to House

SB 2258, a bill by Sen. R. Clark Jolley (R-Edmond), which is designed to make human trafficking more difficult to accomplish in Oklahoma, has passed the state Senate and is now headed to the state House.

For information, read this CapitolBeatOK story by clicking here.

The O'Reilly Factor to Highlight Tulsa Tea Party

As you may know, popular broadcaster Glenn Beck and bestselling author and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin were both in Tulsa this past Saturday afternoon to speak to a sold-out Tulsa Convention Center crowd about "Tak'in Back Our Country."

Tonight, on the Fox News Channel, The O'Reilly Factor program will have a special report about their appearance and also air a spotlight on the Tulsa Tea Party, which was central in organizing the successful Tulsa event.

If you're interested to see this national focus on our state, you can catch The O'Reilly Factor broacast tonight on cable at either 7 p.m. or 10 p.m.

Pro-Marriage Bill Passes House, Advances to Senate

Yesterday, Rep. Mark McCullough's pro-marriage bill, HB 2634, passed the state House of Representatives on a 51-45 vote.

HB 2634 would require two hours of pre-marital counseling before the issuance of a marriage license and provide a $45 dollar discount on a marriage license for couples getting eight or more hours of pre-marital counseling.

The measure also allows for a “covenant marriage” license, ends future recognition of “common law” marriages, and requires court directed pre-divorce education classes for couples with children. Those courses would cover issues such as the impact of separate parenting on children and separate financial responsibility for children.

McCullough noted the counseling and divorce education provisions are already in state law, but are permissive and participation is not mandatory.

“The problem of family fragmentation is the elephant in the living room of state government,” McCullough said. “The fallout from divorce and unwed childbearing cost the State hundreds of millions of dollars annually and it goes against the grain of our conservative culture here in Oklahoma. Yet getting to the point of having a forthright discussion on these issues has proven difficult. So many people have either been divorced or someone close to them has gone through divorce, and that makes people uncomfortable with these issues. I really understand the painful nature of this whole subject. I’m not trying to hurt or shame anyone; I just don’t think we can afford to avert our gaze anymore. This is a conversation we need to have as a state and the Oklahoma House was an appropriate place to start it.”

A recent study from the Institute for American Values and Georgia Family Council, The Taxpayer Costs of Divorce and Unwed Childbearing: First-Ever Estimates for the Fifty States and the Nation, conservatively estimates divorce has a dramatic impact on the cost of state government (largely through public assistance programs) – of at least $430 million annually in Oklahoma.

McCullough's bill now heads to the state Senate.

Abortion in the Obama Health Care Bill

It's a huge bill, as we all know. Who can read it?

Thankfully, Chuck Donovan, formerly of Family Research Council, now with The Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., has done an excellent analysis of how President Barack Obama's newest health care reform bill WILL definitely pay for more federal funding of abortions.

Click here to read his excellent analysis.

Let's pray that pro-life Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) and his House colleagues are successful in stopping this immoral, Progressive bill, which will, over time, end up bankrupting the country and denying medical treatment and care for untold numbers of Americans, including the unborn.