Protesters rally against abortion bill

By BARBARA HOBEROCK World Capitol Bureau - 11/7/2009


OKLAHOMA CITY — More than 70 people gathered Friday on the south steps of the state Capitol to protest an abortion law that has been put on hold.

House Bill 1595 would ban abortions based on the fetus' gender and would require women seeking abortions to report personal information to be put on a state-run Web site.

That information includes previous pregnancies and live births; previous marriages; previous induced abortions; how the abortion was paid for; the reason for the abortion; and information about the mother's relationship with the baby's father, among other things.

The Oklahoma State Department of Health would create the Web site, which would not contain individual identifying information.

Oklahoma County District Judge Twyla Mason Gray put the law on hold last month pending the outcome of a legal challenge brought by two Oklahoma women and the Center for Reproductive Rights. Portions of the law were set to take effect Sunday.

Protesters Friday carried signs that read "Oklahoma State House and Senate Republicans are Big Brother" and "Keep Your Legislative Body Out of Mine." Many of the demonstrators are college students.

Caitlyn Wright, a University of Oklahoma senior from Tulsa, said that when the bill was passed, there was a national outcry but no response in Oklahoma supporting women.

Wright, 21, said no other medical procedure requires information to be posted on a Web site, adding that the law is an attempt to shame women.

She said that if lawmakers want to reduce abortions, they should provide comprehensive sex education and increase wages.

Gabriella Millan, 18, a freshman at the University of Central Oklahoma who is from Broken Arrow, said the law "is a complete violation of our (privacy) rights."

The challenge to the law, written by Sen. Todd Lamb, R-Edmond, who is running for lieutenant governor, and Rep. Dan Sullivan, R-Tulsa, alleges that it is unconstitutional because it covers more than one subject.

"Certainly the First Amendment gives everyone the right to stand up and protest and make their voice heard," Sullivan said. "However, the bill does none of the things they are suggesting. There is no individual identification where people could be harassed or followed up and contacted down the road.

"The purpose of the bill is to look at what are the root causes and what is going on specifically in Oklahoma that is leading people to have abortions."



Barbara Hoberock (405) 528-2465
barbara.hoberock@tulsaworld.com


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Tulsa World Reader Comments
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Few Clothes, America (11/8/2009 4:03:19 PM)
I guess none of the abortionists liked my posting. Sigh, life goes on..........I hope.

FUTURE WORLD, Tulsa (11/7/2009 5:48:41 PM)
If this becomes law, I would encourage all women to just give false information. Making the statistical data they are collecting totally worthless.

jsludge, tulsa (11/6/2009 8:05:53 PM)
people like sex. men and women. you can say all this about people keeping their pants on, but it's not going to happen. it's the way things have always been. Should people be careful? Yes. But you have to fight against hard-wired instincts which doesn't always work out for the cold, reasoning mind. The Oklahoma government shouldn't pass unconstitutional laws; they should mind their own business instead of trying to cram the beliefs of some people down everybody's throat.

tbgalileo, Tulsa (11/6/2009 2:28:29 PM)
ikesdad, no, it's not a numbers game. It's about people in this country having consitutional rights, and one of those rights is to make personal decisions about your own body without having the government mandate what you will and won't do with your reproductive organs. Personally, I don't think telling the government to back off personal decisions is a "lib" thing. And, as far as it goes, I would susupect that the majority are against this law in the first place, regardless of how many people show up for any given protest.

ikesdad, Tahlequah (11/6/2009 1:47:31 PM)
a whole 70 people...wow! I wonder how many people would show up to support that bill? Lots more than that I bet. It the libs want this to be a numbers game we can do it that way. Let's say if we can get 71 to show then the bill goes into effect?

ikesdad, Tahlequah (11/9/2009 7:39:19 AM)
Don't worry Few...they didn't like mine either. You only have a constitutional right to speak up in this country if you say something they agree with. If you say something they don't like then your free speech goes out the window along with all the TARP money.

psychedelikrelik, Tulsa (11/6/2009 3:29:22 PM)
Way to exhibit your misogynistic tendencies and lay it ALL off on the woman, FromTheHeart.

psychedelikrelik, Tulsa (11/7/2009 4:34:45 PM)
Few Clothes, don't kid yourself. I've seen a barrel of pickles in my day and I can confirm what he says about MEN: "Eighteen to eighty, blind, crippled or crazy."

psychedelikrelik, Tulsa (11/7/2009 4:35:12 PM)
I meant what my husband says.

I'm Reliable, (11/7/2009 12:13:24 PM)
The Republicans always want smaller less intrusive government but they authored and passed this bill which is exactly the opposite. It creates more very personal intrusive government. Republicans only want smaller government when it benefits them!!

dustyoutlaw, Tulsa (11/6/2009 5:18:02 PM)
That would be absolutely correct Branny.

SS_Hippy, Tulsa (11/7/2009 5:38:49 PM)
that's what she said

Elusive, the burbs (11/6/2009 5:01:34 PM)
True Joyce but then they would refuse the abortion. If more women had known they would have been there as well. If you do not want an abortion or believe in them simple: don't get one. Other who choose should not be put through this invasion of privacy or ridiculed by others. It's simply none of your business.

Elusive, the burbs (11/6/2009 5:22:09 PM)
The truth is many men will not use the glove.

Elusive, the burbs (11/6/2009 8:01:44 PM)
I agree JC OK but I think that's how the cookie crumbles sometimes, both make that decision to make a mistake "in the moment" and then it happens, pregnant.

Elusive, the burbs (11/6/2009 10:30:31 PM)
You got that right A Team and I've always said the same thing Joyce, put it in a vice and they will sound like they did when they were 10, a soprano.

The A Team, (11/6/2009 9:24:50 PM)
If men could get pregnant, abortions would be a drive-thru procedure.

Fighting Irish, South Bend (11/6/2009 2:33:13 PM)
right on Whoknew. It was a terrible idea to even introduce it, much less pass it. and I guess it depends on your view if having a protest is OK.

Whoknew?, Tulsa (11/6/2009 2:26:23 PM)
You have to wonder how they come up with these house bills. Are there a couple of nitwits just sitting around thinking of how we can humiliate a woman? This is just one of the DUMBEST things I've seen in a few days.

2ndjoyce, BA (11/6/2009 1:51:46 PM)
If I was a woman who made the decision to have an abortion and this law was in effect I would just refuse to answer. As an American I should have the right to not answer any personal question I don't want to.

2ndjoyce, BA (11/6/2009 9:29:48 PM)
haha, A Team. I've always said if men had to endure the horrors of mammograms with a certain beloved part of their body, mammograms would be more humane, too!

2ndjoyce, BA (11/7/2009 10:37:19 AM)
Any man who says 'women you wouldn't do' is not a man I'd do anything with, either.

2ndjoyce, BA (11/7/2009 3:52:38 PM)
I'm a Democrat who would not choose abortion, Royce. I'm not mesmerized by the procedure, but I feel strongly because it has been ruled a legal procedure during the first trimester, everybody else and their dog should stay out of it. Work to change the law, stand on the corner and pass out birth control, hand out pro-life literature if you feel the need. But stay out of the doctor's office while other people are exercising their legal rights. I think babies are absolutely adorable, too, btw. I wish everyone had the resources to make better decisions every single day. That's where our efforts should focus, not on this garbage.

Thunder196, Tulsa (11/6/2009 7:22:16 PM)
If you didn't answer questions, you would not be getting the abortion. No one knows if you are telling the truth or not. .

Thunder196, Tulsa (11/6/2009 7:22:24 PM)
Why should a woman have to be submitted to this in the first place. Should never have to lie or give personal information about herself.


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