Proving yet again that there’s no piece of legislation too insane for anti-abortion zealots to pass, the Oklahoma State House has passed a bill that would revoke the licenses of doctors who help women obtain an abortion.
The bill, HB 1182, sponsored by Republican State Rep. Jim Olsen, would take away the license of any doctor who provides abortions (except if the mother’s life is in danger) for a full year, in addition to issuing a $500 fine. It doesn’t matter if the fetus is deformed. It doesn’t matter if the woman is in a proper mental state. It doesn’t matter if a doctor believes an abortion is necessary. Republicans just think they ought to control women’s bodies.
Considering that the vast majority of abortions require no surgery, or even a visit to a hospital, this is just punishing doctors for helping women.
The bill passed 71-21 along party lines because Republicans don’t give a shit about women’s health.
Naturally, Olsen cited the Christian God when justifying his cruel bill:
“We are told the (U.S.) Supreme Court is the supreme law of the land, that we cannot protest its decision,” Olsen said in debate. “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.”
That must be a joke since, between miscarriages and all the genocide God commits in the Bible, He’s arguably the most prolific abortionist in history.
If this bill gets signed into law, more women will suffer as they obtain unsafe abortions and more doctors will leave the state since their very existence is being punished. If the goal is to reduce the abortion rate, this is the worst possible way to do it. But again, these are Republicans. Facts don’t matter. As long as you mention the Christian God, anything goes. These people are only “pro-life” when it comes to fetuses, not human beings.
Of course, the bill doesn’t address any of the root causes for why women might ever want an abortion — because that would require a level of empathy and understanding these Republicans don’t possess.
Olsen, a Sunday School teacher, acknowledged that his bill would lead some women to “go out of state” for the procedure, but he added, “I do believe we will save some souls.” It’s a clear-cut case of a politician writing legislation to advance his religious agenda instead of doing something to actually help his constituents.
(Screenshot via YouTube. Portions of this article were published earlier)