Oklahoma House Votes to Override Veto of Ultrasound Before Abortion Bill
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
April 26, 2010
Oklahoma City, OK (LifeNews.com) — The Oklahoma state House today overrode vetoes by Governor Brad Henry on two pro-life bills. One would allow women considering an abortion to have a chance to view an ultrasound beforehand and the second.
The second bill fosters respect for babies with disabilities by disallowing wrongful-life lawsuits that claim a baby would have been better off being aborted and that a physician should have suggested an abortion.
House members voted 81-14 Monday to override the veto of the ultrasound measure and voted 84-12 to override the veto of the wrongful life lawsuits.
At least 76 votes, or three-quarters of the 101-member House, are needed to override a veto. For the full override to be successful, the state Senate must also sign off on it and senators may vote on Tuesday if they clear other votes on unrelated bills first.
Henry said the first measure would create another expensive battle in the courts and didn’t contain an exception for women who would abort their unborn children after a rape or incest.
This is the second time Henry has vetoed a measure giving women the right to see an ultrasound of their baby before an abortion. Legislators overrode the veto last time and the head of Oklahomans for Life said before the vetoes that he expects the legislature would try again.
"If the Governor vetoes any of the bills, there will be a vote to override the veto in both the House and the Senate. The Senate is most crucial," Tony Lauinger of Oklahomans for Life told LifeNews.com.
"Pro-abortion groups want vetoes from the Governor and want Democrats in the Senate to sustain the pro-abortion vetoes. Planned Parenthood is the ringleader of the tragic campaign to continue the unrestrained killing of unborn babies across Oklahoma," Lauinger added.
Because Governor Brad Henry is a Democrat, and because "party loyalty" is an argument that can carry great weight, Lauinger says "Senate Democrats who voted pro-life will be subjected to intense pro-abortion pressure to switch their votes if the Governor vetoes any of the bills. Thus it is essential that these pro-life Democrats hear from us."
Last week, Henry signed a bill , HB 3075, that ensures that a mother’s consent to an abortion is truly voluntary and safeguards against coerced abortions. It requires abortion clinics to post signs indicating that a woman could not be forced to have an abortion.
Earlier in the week, Henry received a package of five bills.
HB 3284 provides for the reporting of abortions performed in Oklahoma, the reasons abortions are sought, and the complications that result.
Lauinger said: "Knowing why women seek abortions may make it possible to solve underlying problems. The reporting of complications will allow an assessment of the untested claim that abortion is ‘safe.’"
One additional pro-life bill, prompted by passage of the federal health-care law last month, is pending in the state Senate. The federal health-care law allows states to opt out of abortion coverage in the state-based insurance "exchanges" the law creates.
HB 3290 prohibits all health plans offered through the state exchange in Oklahoma from including coverage for elective abortions.
Lauinger said of that measure, "HB 3290 can’t fix all the abortion-related problems created by the new federal health-care law, but it will fix this one area in which the states have been given discretion."
The bills were enacted in previous years but were later struck down by state courts for violating the nebulous "single-subject" rule (because they were included in broader abortion legislation).
Three of the bills head to the governor while two go back to the state House for approval.
Henry signed three pro-life bills earlier this year to limit abortions into law earlier this month after courts struck them down when they were bundled into one bill. https://www.lifenews.com/state4957.html
Related web sites:
Oklahoma Governor – https://www.gov.ok.gov
Oklahomans for Life – https://www.OkForLife.org
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