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A bill moving through the legislature in Oklahoma would fine and revoke the medical license of any “doctor” who murders an unborn child by perpetrating an abortion. Some pro-life activists in the legislature and beyond, though, are concerned that the bill does not go far enough, arguing that murdering an innocent pre-born baby ought to be treated as a homicide with serious penalties rather than a mere slap on the wrist.
Oklahoma lawmakers have repeatedly passed powerful legislation to nullify the U.S. Supreme Court’s lawless “opinion” in Roe v. Wade, which critics say makes a mockery of the U.S. Constitution. However, former Governor Mary Fallin, widely regarded as a “Republican in Name Only” (RINO) among conservatives, consistently protected abortionists by vetoing the bills. Analysts said the protections may stand a better chance of being signed into law now that Fallin is out.
The licensing legislation, House Bill 1182, states that performing an abortion is “unprofessional conduct” and thus, is grounds for denying or revoking a doctor’s medical license. However, the measure — the first bill passed by the Oklahoma House this session — makes an exception for cases in which the mother’s life may be in serious jeopardy, something medical professionals say almost never occurs. The legislation passed overwhelmingly, with 71 in favor and just 21 against.
The chief sponsor of the bill, Republican State Representative Jim Olsen, blasted the notion that states are powerless under Roe v. Wade as unborn babies continue being slaughtered. “We are told the Supreme Court is the supreme law of the land, that we cannot protest its decision,” Olsen was quoted as saying in media reports. “There is a court even higher than the Supreme Court. There is the court of God. Abortion is a violation of the law of God.”
Representative Olsen also dismissed other objections some critics have raised about his bill. “You know, many times the mother is told that the baby will not live or the baby is severely deformed or something is terribly, terrible wrong, and many times — not always, of course — but at times, the baby turns out just fine,” explained Olsen, rebuking arguments in favor killing babies based on medical claims that they may have some deformity or abnormality.
Responding to phony concerns about how revoking medical licenses from doctors who perform abortions might affect other people in need of “care” from abortionists, Olsen noted that the number of people affected would be less than tiny. “There are 10 doctors that perform abortions in the state of Oklahoma. Just 10,” Olsen explained. “There are about 9,000 physicians in the state of Oklahoma.”
Of course, legitimate doctors would never kill a child, whether born or unborn. Without relying on the Bible, even pagans realized that killing pre-born children was evil and contrary to good medical practice. About 2,500 years ago, the Greek physician Hippocrates of Cos, dubbed the “Father of Medicine,” drafted the Hippocratic Oath creating clear ethical guidelines — an oath that, while modified somewhat, is still in use today and is recited by virtually every graduating medical student.
The original was clear: “I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a plan; and similarly I will not give a woman a pessary to cause an abortion.” Later, after World War II, it was updated, but it still maintained the clear prohibition against killing unborn babies: “I WILL MAINTAIN the utmost respect for human life, from the time of conception; even under threat, I will not use my medical knowledge contrary to the laws of humanity.”
It was not until 1983 that pro-abortion forces managed to remove the word “conception” from the oath. But even without that word, it is self-evident that an individual human life begins at conception, when the genetic code of the mother and the father come together and create a new, unique individual human being. In short, no legitimate doctor can slaughter babies and claim to be a doctor, something that Oklahoma lawmakers are working to enshrine in law.
The bill has attracted broad support from pro-life forces. However, not everybody is enthusiastic about the bill. State Senator Joseph Silk, who has legislation, S.B. 13, to define the killing of unborn babies as homicide, suggested that much stronger protections for life were needed. “This is very clear when you read the language in the bill and see the people who are in support of the bill,” he said. “Some of them are the exact people who worked hard against legislation that would have offered equal protection for unborn children.”
Oklahoma Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat has so far managed to block Senator Silk’s bill, and plans to continue doing so this session by preventing it from coming up in committee. “The part that I find unenforceable is saying that we’re not going to listen to a federal court, we’re not going to allow state officials go into federal court to defend the law,” Treat said, adding that he agrees with the need to end abortion in Oklahoma.
Senator Treat did say he would support other measures to stop the killing. “There’s a brainwave and heartbeat bill. There’s the medical licensure bill. There’s a wrongful death bill. There’s a personhood bill,” he explained. “So, we have a lot of vehicles out there. I’m absolutely committed to protecting unborn life. I don’t believe Senate Bill 13 gets us there.”
Using nullification to rein in the rogue Supreme Court — especially on abortion — has been a hot topic in Oklahoma and other conservative states for years. After all, state governments never surrendered control over murder laws to the U.S. government, which is one reason why murderers are almost always prosecuted under state law.
Of course, the U.S. Constitution does not delegate any authority or jurisdiction to the federal government on these questions — nor is any such authority found in the “penumbras” of the document, as the court claimed in its Roe v. Wade ruling. That means those powers are reserved to the states or the people, and the federal government has no power to intervene.
As legislator and then-candidate for Oklahoma Governor Dan Fischer explained, states have not just the right to protect the unborn, but the duty, even if that means defying a usurpation of power by the high court. “They act like judicial review has given them the power to do whatever they want — redefine marriage, strike down our state constitutions, mandate the legalization of abortion, and so on,” he told The New American in 2018. “We need to stop this and get back to the original Constitution and its strict limits on federal power.”
At the federal level, meanwhile, legislation promoted by then-Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas), a medical doctor who delivered thousands of babies, would have made clear that the Supreme Court has no constitutional jurisdiction over abortion. The bill, known as the We The People Act, would have killed Roe v. Wade on the spot. “It is long past time that Congress exercises its authority to protect the republican government of the states from out-of-control federal judges,” Representative Paul explained about the legislation.
Unsurprisingly, Democrats, who make up a fringe minority in the Oklahoma legislature, are fighting against the bill to strip “doctors” of their licenses while trying not to sound too ghoulish in their support for killing babies. “Folks, this is not an easy issue,” said Minority Leader Emily Virgin about the bill. “It’s not black and white. There are situations with a lot of nuance. For us to wade into the nuance, the most personal details of a person’s life, of a family … for us to say that we know better, that we know what’s best for you, to insert ourselves into this most personal situation, I think is just wrong.”
Naturally, the extreme pro-abortion lobby expressed outrage that lawmakers would even consider restrictions on the slaughter of unborn children. “Politicians have no place intimidating doctors and interfering in personal decisions about abortion, which belong to women and families,” argued NARAL Pro-Choice America spokeswoman Kristin Ford in a statement quoted by the pro-abortion ABC News, without making any comments on the right to life of unborn children.
Liberal states have been far more assertive in using nullification to undermine unconstitutional federal power grabs. For instance, despite federal statutes prohibiting marijuana for any purpose, most states today have removed prohibitions on the plant, at least for medical purposes. All it will take to protect life and marriage while putting the rogue Supreme Court back in its place is a handful of states willing to stand up and do the right thing. Perhaps Oklahoma can lead the way.
Alex Newman is a correspondent for The New American. He can be reached at [email protected] or through Liberty Sentinel Media. Follow him on Twitter @ALEXNEWMAN_JOU or on Facebook.
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