Oklahoma Passes Nation’s Strictest Law On Pre-Abortion Ultrasounds

Oklahoma, which is still upholding its reputation as a decidedly anti-choice state, just enacted some disturbing and restrictive legislation. The legislature overrode the governor’s veto on two measures: the first not only requires women to have a pre-abortion ultrasound, but for the doctor to set up the monitor so that the pregnant woman can see the screen and describe the heart, limbs and organs of the fetus. The second prevents women who have disabled babies from suing doctors who withheld information about birth defects in the womb.

The governor vetoed both bills last week, saying that the first was flawed because it did not exempt rape and incest victims and would allow an unconstitutional intrusion into a woman’s privacy. The second measure, he said, was ” unconscionable” because it gave “a physician legal protection to mislead or misinform pregnant women in an effort to impose his or her personal beliefs on a patient.”

And yes, let’s think about the implications of the second measure in particular. Doctors now have the right, in the state of Oklahoma, to withhold health information from patients and to get away with it. Never mind that they will not be raising the children themselves, or that they do not have the right to impose their own beliefs about abortion onto their patients.

Oklahoma is now one of the most difficult places in the country to easily access an abortion. “These laws all have the same goal, and that’s to discourage women from seeking abortions in the first place,” said Anita Fream, the chief executive of Planned Parenthood of Central Oklahoma. “They just throw down one roadblock after another in front of women and hope maybe they will give up.” Dionne Scott of the Center for Reproductive Rights calls the first measure “the most extreme ultrasound requirement in the country.” Just hours after the vote, the Center went to state court to challenge the law as unconstitutional.

The state was in the news over abortion rights last fall, when a law was passed that would post personal details about every abortion performed in the state on the internet. This was stalled in the courts, but the passage of these new measures reveal the lengths to which Oklahoma lawmakers will apparently go to restrict women’s reproductive freedom. If you live in Oklahoma, I encourage you to call your legislators. This is not about the sanctity of life – it’s about allowing doctors to make decisions for their patients, something I think we can all agree is a right we never want our doctors to have.

Photo from Wikimedia Commons.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
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Beng Kiat L.

12:28AM PDT on Jun 24, 2010

Thanks

send a green star

Celeste A.

9:38PM PDT on May 15, 2010

Who voted yes to this poll? Would you like it if a doctor withheld that you have testicular cancer? Or anything concerning you? This isn't about abortion people, THIS IS ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS! DON'T LET THE GOVERNMENT TAKE OUR RIGHTS JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE AN OPINION!

Joan M.

5:11PM PDT on May 5, 2010

OKLAHOMA YOU PEOPLE REALLY NEED HELP & THE POWERS THAT BE SHOULD BE THROWN OUT OF OFFICE...AS USUAL MONEY TALKS....THEIR MAIN CONCERN IS TO COVER THE DOCTORS BUTTS & TO HELL WITH THE HIPPOCRATIC OATH...JUST SO LONG AS THE INSURANCE COMPANIES DON'T SEE MALPRACTICE SUITS ALL IS OKAY....TO KNOWINGLY ABUSE THE TRUST OF THEIR PATIENTS BECAUSE OF YOUR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS IS AGAINST ALL MANKIND.....

Angela W.

1:39PM PDT on May 5, 2010

Hicks, total HICKS! They like their women Barefoot an Pregnant and in front of the stove. Get out and VOTE these people OUT!

Amber K.

11:09AM PDT on May 5, 2010

Thanks.

Amy P.

12:31PM PDT on May 4, 2010

I would love an explanation from an ultra conservative about why it is that their concern for children drops off so precipitously once they're born. If these extreme pro-lifers were concerned about these children they're helping to bring into the world to the point they supported universal health care, quality public education, financial aid for college, subsidized preschool and daycare so their mothers can work and support them, and all the facets of human decency they so regularly vote down, I'd understand their fervor.

Why are the human rights of the unborn so much more important than the human rights of their mothers and already-born siblings in the world?

Bette M.

11:49AM PDT on May 4, 2010

Belkis.......Here is part of my last comment. Read it again:

Wow......I must agree with you on much of what you wrote. And, in this day & age there are few reasons for a woman to become pregnant. If you do not want to get pregnant one has a choice to not engage in sex or get on the pill.

It is of no concern of mine if a woman wants/gets an abortion. I don't care!! What bothers me greatly is many women wantonly engage in sex & then fall into despair over becoming pregnant when it could be so easily prevented.
But, the option to abort should always be there no matter what.

Plant & protect trees for life...................

Belkis H.

8:09AM PDT on May 4, 2010

As for the poll I voted NO! If Doctors are allowed to withold medical information from their patients, there is no use in having doctos in the first place!

8:04AM PDT on May 4, 2010

@Wowsux Sux and @B. M. you are both strongly misinformed. What of the women who are raped? That's firstly... and secondly accidents really do happen.

My mother had to get an abortion when she was 15. Why? Not because she had unprotected sex, she did, she used a condom, but it broke! Why? BECAUSE CONDOMS DO BREAK! It's latex for fuck's sake, not some super material that will resist everything! She went on the pill thereafter.
But neither the pill or the condom even when properly used and no breaking or malfunctioning do not have a 100% success rate! This is a well known fact taught in Canadian High School classes. IT IS NEVER 100%!
Granted the odds are low but the chances are still there.

Also the pill can and will harm your body and reproductive system in the long run and some women don't want that. There's a variety of alternative contraceptive methods out there that people should be more educated about but none of them ever have a 100% success rate, regardless of what people are led to believe. ACCIDENTS HAPPEN!

And don't forget on teenagers or low-income areas where education about the reproductive system is severely lacking. Some boys will convince girls that if they have sex standing up it will avoid pregnancy. Or if they pull out before ejaculating etc. It would also strongly help to teach about the menstrual cycle and the high-risk days.

In the mean time the both of you should avoid condescending, IGNORANT remarks.