Oklahoma State Passes An Anti-Abortion Bill, Criminalizing The Procedure And Delicensing Practitioners

Oklahoma State has passed another anti-abortion law that criminalizes the procedure and strips doctors, who are caught performing abortion, of their licenses in Oklahoma. It is now up to Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin if the bill will take into effect on November, given that she signs it within 5-days time.

Governor Fallin is known to be an anti-abortion Republican. Ever since she became Governor, she has attempted to ban abortion of any form.

"Since Governor Fallin took office in 2011, she has signed 18 bills restricting access to reproductive health care services...Each of these laws have been blocked by courts; in fact, the Center for Reproductive Rights has challenged unconstitutional restrictions on reproductive health care in Oklahoma eight times in five years," Center of Reproductive Rights said in a statement as reported by NPR.

Sponsored by Sen. Nathan Dahm, the newly-passed bill makes abortion a felony and those who will perform it will be sentenced up to 3 years in prison. Abortionists will also not be recognized as doctors in Oklahoma, given that they cannot obtain or renew their licenses in Oklahoma.

The Senate voted 33-12 in favor of the bill with 3 abstentions. Nonetheless, Civil Rights Director of the Constitutional Accountability Center in Washington, D.C., David Gans told Los Angeles Times that the law is unconstitutional. When state and federal law clashes, the federal law always prevails.

"This bill is really flouting these fundamental principles that the Supreme Court has explained and that are the law of the land...Oklahoma is not the first to do this. Time and time again, what the Supreme court has said is you cannot ban abortions," Gans said.

This is after the Supreme Court ruled on the Roe vs. Wade case that legalized abortions nationwide. Ever since, all anti-abortion laws had been thrown into the bin by the High Court.

Given the history of the Supreme Court when it comes to dealing with abortion cases, Oklahoma is still undeterred. According to Los Angeles Times, Oklahoma is considered the most "pro-life" state. Proving these are the countless anti-abortion laws the state has tried to put into law.

As per ABC News, Oklahoma has passed eight anti-abortion bills for the past five years but none materialized. In 2013, it passed a law requiring women to look at their baby's ultrasound before abortion and in 2014, another law required abortion doctors to secure hospital admission first. The latter is a pending case in the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

Aside from Oklahoma, 16 other states have passed anti-abortion laws (via Los Angeles Times). South Carolina recently illegalize abortion for all women, rape and incest victims included. According to The New York Times, this is the year for anti-abortion laws as South Dakota, Alabama, Mississippi and West Virginia also passed anti-abortion laws.