The Road To Gilead Goes Through Oklahoma

In anticipation of SCOTUS ending Roe v. Wade in the weeks ahead, Oklahoma Republicans have essentially banned and criminalized abortion outright.

With no fanfare and very little noise of any kind, the Oklahoma House of Representatives on Tuesday morning passed and sent to the governor a near-total ban on abortion.

Perhaps not coincidentally, the final vote on Senate Bill 612, by Sen. Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow, occurred as abortion rights activists and others gathered outside the Capitol for a previously scheduled protest against several bans implemented this year by the Republican-controlled state leadership.

If signed by Gov. Kevin Stitt, SB 612 would almost certainly be immediately challenged.

While federal courts have recently upheld state laws severely restricting access to abortion, an outright ban on the procedure has yet to be allowed.

A holdover from last session, when it passed the Senate and a House committee, SB 612 would outlaw all abortions in Oklahoma except to save the life of the woman. It would impose a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine on anyone performing an abortion.

The law would not penalize women who undergo the procedure.

Some might consider SB 612 redundant, since Oklahoma statute already would reactivate the state's long-dormant abortion laws should Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that guaranteed a woman's right to an abortion, be overturned.

Some think that could happen in a few months, when the current Supreme Court is expected to issue its decision in a Mississippi case.

Anti-abortion rights activists calling themselves abolitionists advocate ignoring Roe v. Wade or any other federal action that permits abortion, but SB 612's House sponsor, state Rep. Jim Olsen, R-Roland, said he would not go that far.

Olsen said his bill is intended to have everything in place should Roe v. Wade be overturned.

It could also become a vehicle for a direct challenge of Roe v. Wade if that decision is not overturned.

SB 612 passed off the House floor 70-14, with 16 members not voting. Rep. Carol Bush, R-Tulsa, who is not seeking reelection, was the only Republican voting against the measure.

It was not immediately clear whether Gov. Kevin Stitt will sign SB 612, though he has said previously he would sign any bill restricting abortion rights that comes to him.

Again, the most likely outcome is that there are five votes on the Supreme Court to dismantle Roe and Casey v. Planned Parenthood within three months from now, and states will be allowed to restrict abortion as they see fit, creating a two-tiered system where women will have rights to their bodies in half of America and won't in the Gilead states.

I don't particularly see it affecting Republicans negatively, either. If anything, we'll see a massive turnout of the MAGA faithful willing to finish off civil rights for good.

We're going to have to beat them with numbers unseen in our history.