Oklahoma Governor Vetoes Bill Making Abortion A Felony

(WNS)–Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin on May 20 vetoed a bill that would have criminalized abortion in the state, saying the proposed law was too vague and wouldn’t survive an inevitable test in court.

The Oklahoma Senate passed the measure to make performing abortion “unprofessional conduct” and a felony. Any physician convicted of assisting in an abortion would face one to three years in prison and the revocation of his or her medical license. The bill included an exception to allow an abortion to save the mother’s life.

“The bill is so ambiguous and so vague that doctors cannot be certain what medical circumstances would be considered ‘necessary to preserve the life of the mother,’” Fallin said. “While I consistently have and continue to support a re-examination of the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade, this legislation cannot accomplish that re-examination.”

The bill’s sponsor, Republican Sen. Nathan Dahm, said he wrote the bill for that reason—to force the Supreme Court to revisit the decision it made in 1973 to legalize abortion nationwide.

In a statement issued today, the governor’s office boasted that Fallin has signed 18 bills “protecting the health and lives of mothers and their unborn children” and called her “the most pro-life governor in the nation.”

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