House passes three pro-life bills

Legislative Staff Release

Published: 30-Mar-2010

Pro-life legislation overwhelmingly passed the House Monday (March 29), reflecting the continued strength of anti-abortion advocacy at the state Capitol. 

Senate Bill 1890, by Rep. Dan Sullivan, forbids an abortion based solely on the sex of the child. The bill passed the House with a vote of 95-1. “It is critical that we make sure the common practice in many countries of aborting mostly female babies does not come to our state,” said Sullivan, a Tulsa Republican. 

Senate Bill 1891, by Pam Peterson, creates the Freedom of Conscience Act, which would protect the rights of health care professionals to refuse to take part in the destruction of innocent human life. The bill passed the House with a vote of 80-13. 

“Health care professionals should not be forced to participate in the taking of life against their will,” said Peterson, also a Tulsa Republican.

Senate Bill 1902, by Rep. Skye McNiel, makes it illegal for a person other than a physician to provide or administer the chemical abortion pill, RU-486, for the purposes of inducing an abortion. The bill also requires physicians to file a report under certain circumstances, and provides a civil action for certain fathers and maternal grandparents of unborn children aborted by a physician who knowingly or recklessly violates the provisions of the measure. 

McNeil’s bill passed the House with a vote of 91-7. “We want to make sure this drug is administered under the direct supervision of a physician to protect Oklahoma women at an incredibly vulnerable time in their lives,” said a Bristow Republican. 

“In recent years, we have seen the value of human life disintegrate, and these bills are an attempt to reverse that trend,” said House Speaker Chris Benge, R-Tulsa. “It is our job as legislators to protect the least among us, the most of which is the life of the unborn.”