Gov. Fallin vetoes bill to make abortion a felony in Oklahoma. Bye-Bye to VP chances?

Republican Governor Mary Fallin vetoed a bill Friday that would have made almost all abortions a felony in Oklahoma. Only abortions performed by physicians are currently allowed. Under SB 1552, passed on final reading by the Oklahoma Senate Thursday, even those would have been outlawed. The penalty was set at up to three years in prison and doctors who performed abortions would also have their state licenses revoked.

Exceptions were included in the bill when a pregnant woman’s life (but not her health) was at risk. But it provided no exceptions in cases of rape, incest or even when fetal anomalies would make survival outside the womb impossible. 

The bill stated:

A. No person shall perform or induce an abortion upon a pregnant woman. Any person violating this section shall be guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not less than one (1) year nor more than three (3) years in the State Penitentiary.

B. Any physician participating in the performance of an abortion shall be prohibited from obtaining or renewing a license to practice medicine in this state. The State Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision shall revoke the license of an allopathic physician performing an abortion in this state. The State Board of Osteopathic Examiners shall revoke the license of an osteopathic physician performing an abortion in this state. 

Fallin, with a record as a strong foe of abortion, said:

“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. “The absence of any definition, analysis or medical standard renders this exception vague, indefinite and vulnerable to subjective interpretation and application.”

The real problem with it, however, is that it directly collides with the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade and subsequent rulings establishing a nationwide right to abortion. 

Fallin’s name is one of many that has been floated as a possible running mate of Donnie Trump, the putative Republican nominee for the presidency. No word yet on whether her veto took her off the list.