Oklahoma’s highest-ranking Senate Republican will try a new tack when it comes to banning abortion in the state.
Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat took possession of Senate Bill 195 from Sen. Dave Rader and rewrote it. Treat’s version would reinstate Oklahoma law making abortion a felony. That would be triggered by either the U.S. Supreme Court overturning its 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion or an amendment to the U.S. Constitution banning abortion.
"We’ve been trying to advance the cause of the unborn well before I got here. We’ll be advancing the cause of the unborn until we no longer have abortion," Treat said.
Treat said an exception to save a woman’s life will stay in place. SB195 is expected to get a committee hearing Monday. If the bill becomes law, Oklahoma would become the sixth state with a "trigger" abortion ban. The Republican governor in neighboring Arkansas signed a similar measure this week.
Treat said Republican legislation is behind recent abortion rate declines in Oklahoma.
"[A] 22 percent reduction since 2010 in abortions annually in Oklahoma, and a 47 percent reduction in Oklahoma on abortions performed on women under the age of 20. What we are doing has made a difference," Treat said.
Researchers at the Guttmacher Institute say abortion is declining nationwide because of better contraceptive use and fewer unintended pregnancies.
Another state Senate measure, which seeks to nullify federal law by banning abortion outright, will not be heard.
"Nullification has been tried before in the country. It led to a civil war. Nullification has been tried on Obamacare. It failed miserably every time. I do not believe that Senate Bill 13, even if enacted, will save a single human life," Treat said.
