Lawmakers Respond To Okla. Supreme Court Limited Right To Abortion Ruling

An Oklahoma Supreme Court decision on abortion comes down as legislators discuss multiple bills that would provide exceptions to abortions this session. 

Supreme Court Justices ruled that there is a limited right to abortion, if the mother’s life is at risk.

“It means that there are at least 5 Supreme Court Justices in the state that are incompetent and are trying to use mental gymnastics to try to create a right to abortion that is not in the Oklahoma constitution,” said Senator Nathan Dahm, (R) Broken Arrow.

Many republican legislators expressed their concerns following the announcement of the majority opinion.

“When you look through and see the references, the lack of references, you'll see that they just wanted to create their own interpretation of what a right to an abortion is,” said Sen. Dahm.

In the ruling, Justices say the Oklahoma constitution gives women "an inherent right of a pregnant woman to terminate a pregnancy when necessary to save her life."

They say doctors need a reasonable degree of certainty that continuing the pregnancy could endanger the mothers life.

Anyone performing an abortion when a woman's life isn't in danger could be placed in jail for up to a year and face a $1,000 fine.

“So while we are excited and happy that we were able to provide more guidance to hospitals in those emergency exceptions to an abortion, we are disappointed the court didn't go far enough,” said Tamya Cox-Touré with the Oklahoma Call for Reproductive Justice.

Cox-Touré says while this gives clear guidance to healthcare providers in a medical emergency, her fight isn’t over.

“We still feel very strongly that all Oklahomans have the right to an abortion without exceptions, but unfortunately the court only found that right to an abortion to preserve life,” said Cox-Touré.

“What it does not do is open up abortion access to Oklahomans in a meaningful way. Many Oklahomans are still required to travel very long distances to get the care that they need,” said Cox-Touré.

There are still a handful of abortion bills making their way through this session, including allowing abortions in cases of rape or incest that’s been reported to police.

Sen. Dahm says they are still working to provide clarifying language to abortion bills this session.

“We are going to be having those conversations to see how we can protect the life of an unborn child,” said Sen. Dahm.

Multiple lawmakers responded to the ruling this evening.

The Senate President Pro Tem’s office sent News9 a statement saying, "The pro tem is very concerned with the majority opinion. He is still reviewing the opinion, conferring with the Attorney General’s Office and talking with fellow lawmakers to see what next steps are necessary to protect unborn life."

House Speaker Charles McCall, (R) Atoka, said in a statement: 

"Functionally, this Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling merely repeals vague language in previously passed legislation. Current statute already accounts for cases where the life of the mother is at risk, so the right to life remains protected.

Oklahomans can rest assured that House Republicans will continue to protect the lives of the unborn and pursue legislation that values all life."

Governor Stitt issued the following statement criticizing the Oklahoma Supreme Court's 5-4 opinion released today: 

"I wholeheartedly disagree with this activist majority's opinion creating a right to an abortion in Oklahoma. Alarmingly, this activist majority acted out of hand by making a policy decision that belongs to the people. Chief Justice Kane said it best in his well-written dissent: 'This Court should adhere to the Constitution given to us, not craft what we believe to be a "better" Constitution. The power lies with the people.'" 

"Furthermore, in their 20 page opinion, not once was there any mention of the unborn. From the moment life begins at conception, we have a responsibility to do everything we can to protect that baby's life and the life of the mother. That is what I believe and that is what the majority of Oklahomans believe which is why the Legislature has passed, and I have signed, numerous laws banning abortion in Oklahoma."

Attorney General Getner Drummond said in a statement: “We respect the Court’s ruling and are pleased the justices acknowledged the exception for cases in which the life of the mother is at risk.”