(The Center Square) – Gov. Kevin Stitt and other lawmakers said Tuesday they disagree with a 5-4 ruling by the Oklahoma State Supreme Court that protects abortion if the mother’s life is endangered.
The Oklahoma Call for Reproductive Justice sued the state over its law that makes it a felony to perform an abortion.
Justices Yvonne Kauger, James Winchester, James Edmondson, Douglas Combs and Noma Gurich said in the ruling a law that would ban abortion to protect the life of the mother is “void and unenforceable.”
Justice Kauger criticized the law in her written opinion.
‘For some women, the draconian law which allows no exception, in the absence of a medical emergency to preserve the life of the mother, may be a death sentence,” Kauger wrote. “In some instances, women may have fewer rights than a convicted murderer on death row. These women may be subject to a death sentence without being afforded due process or any provision for clemency or pardon. Imagine that.”
Stitt said he disagreed with the court’s opinion.
“Alarmingly, this activist majority acted out of hand by making a policy decision that belongs to the people,’ Stitt said in a statement. “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.”
House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, said the protection already exists in the statute.
“Functionally, this Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling merely repeals vague language in previously passed legislation,” McCall said. ‘Current statute already accounts for cases where the life of the mother is at risk, so the right to life remains protected.”
Sen. Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow, called the ruling “judicial overreach.”
“To accomplish this language change, they created a new ‘right’ to an abortion,” Dahm said. “Regardless of the political preferences of the justices, determining the semantics of any exception is a policy decision that lies with the Legislature, not the courts.”
The Oklahoma State Medical Association praised the decision.
“Oklahoma’s patchwork abortion laws have created uncertainty for physicians and their patients regarding procedures to protect the life of a mother,” the organization said in a statement posted on Twitter. “We are grateful to the Oklahoma Supreme Court for helping clarify this issue through their ruling today.”
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