Okla. Officials Will Appeal Ruling That Struck Down State Abortion Law

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Litigation / Medical Malpractice
Article Date: 21 Aug 2009 - 3:00 PDT

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Oklahoma state officials on Wednesday announced that they plan to appeal a ruling issued Tuesday by Oklahoma County District Judge Vicki Robertson that struck down a state law (SB 1878) imposing numerous abortion-related restrictions, including a requirement that doctors perform ultrasounds and provide women with detailed information about the image before performing abortions, the New York Times reports.

Robertson ruled that the bill, which included four other abortion-related measures, violated a clause in the state constitution that requires bills to address only one subject. Robertson did not rule on whether the law violated privacy protections or free-speech rights. State lawmakers passed the law in 2008 over the veto of Gov. Brad Henry (D), but the law never went into effect because of the legal challenge.

Charlie Price, a spokesperson for Oklahoma Attorney General W.A. Drew Edmondson, said that an appeal will be filed with the state Supreme Court. He added that the state will argue that the law does not violate the single-subject rule because all its parts pertain to abortion. Republican state lawmakers said that if Oklahoma does not win the appeal, they would split the law into five bills and pass them during the next legislative session, which begins in February.

Abortion-rights advocates celebrated Robertson's ruling but said that the fight against the law, one of the strictest nationwide, likely will continue for months in the state Legislature and state Supreme Court, the Times reports. "It is one battle in the war, but the war shall continue," Martha Hardwick, a lawyer with the Center for Reproductive Rights, said. Anita Freeman, head of Planned Parenthood of Central Oklahoma, said that the law intruded on the decision-making process between a woman and her doctor. "Even if you don't look at the picture, you have to listen to the description," she said, adding, "It almost reaches the stage of seeming cruel to me."

The law would have required providers to set up the ultrasound monitor where the woman could see it and describe the fetus in detail. The law said that the woman would be allowed to "avert her eyes." In the early stages of pregnancy, the law would have required the ultrasound to be performed vaginally to get a clear image, according to providers. It also did not make exceptions for rape or incest (McKinley, New York Times, 8/19). Other provisions in the law would have required doctors to follow FDA labeling when administering medical abortion drugs. It also would have required signs in clinics telling women that they cannot be coerced into abortions, as well as refusal rights for employees who oppose abortion. In addition, the law would have prohibited wrongful life lawsuits in certain circumstances Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 8/19).

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