By John Michener

The Oklahoma Legislature is considering more than two dozen abortion-related proposals this session. There are only two bills that are pure and principled. Some are symbolic, nothing more than political grandstanding. Still others are well-meaning, but misguided and ultimately harmful. Then, there are those that are truly wicked and dangerous. I will highlight only the most important bills in this article.

Every year the Republicans come up with a new strategy to prove their pro-life pedigree. This year the popular approach in the State Legislature is to go after the sale and distribution of abortifacient drugs. There are at least five bills relating to this approach: HB 3013, HB 3216, SB 1816, SB 1828, and SB 1885. Only one is good as originally submitted.

House Bill 3216, by Rep. Kevin West, says: “No person may knowingly administer to, prescribe for, or sell to any pregnant woman any medicine, drug, or other substance with the specific intent of causing or abetting an abortion.” Unfortunately, his bill was not supported by legislative leadership and did not get a vote. Instead, HB 3013, by Rep. Denise Crosswhite Hader, was supported by the House leadership. It passed along party lines, but was not considered in the Senate. It was largely symbolic since it applied only to individuals selling abortifacient drugs to other individuals. It specifically protected and exempted manufacturers, distributors, pharmacists, and out of State providers.

The fundamental problem with this approach in general, even if done right, is that it addresses only the supply of abortifacient drugs while leaving demand untouched. In Oklahoma women currently possess statutory authorization and protection to murder their children by abortion. Until this license to kill is revoked, no amount of monkeying around with statutes about the sale and delivery of abortifacient drugs will do much good.

As I have documented in previous articles, the means to abortion are cheap and available from local pharmacies and online, and they would continue to be readily available even if all of the proposals listed above were passed into law. One pregnancy center director reported: “We see young women who already have abortion pills in their medicine cabinets…[and] we try to intercept as many as we can who are actively seeking abortions. Until there is accountability…nothing will change.” There will never be enough statutory fingers and toes to plug all the supply-side holes in the pro-life dike.

The real problem – and its solution – must be addressed on the demand side. How many women in Oklahoma would still demand means to an abortion if they knew they might be tried for homicide? Both SB 402, the Prenatal Equal Protection Act, by Sen. Warren Hamilton, and SB 1729, the Abolition of Abortion Act, by Sen. Dusty Deevers, classify abortion as homicide and provide for the prosecution of a mother who takes the life of her preborn child. Either of these two bills would legally abolish abortion in Oklahoma, and the enforcement of such a bill would make abolition a practical reality. No other bill would be needed, other than for added support. Unfortunately, Republican pro-lifers in leadership do not support the criminalization of all abortion or extending equal protection of the law to preborn humans, so these bills are as doomed as the thousands of unwanted preborn children who will be murdered by their parents this year under the cover of Republican pro-life laws.

Senator Julie Daniels has authored SB 834 to expand access to assisted abortion when rape, sexual assault, or incest has been reported to law enforcement. HB 1656, by Rep. Marcus McEntire, contains similar language. Note that both legislators call themselves pro-life Republicans, and McEntire boasts a Master of Divinity degree. Furthermore, these bills have the support of a full-time lobbyist associated with the National Right to Life. To repeat, these bills would expand abortion access! SB 834 has advanced out of committee to the Senate Floor.

Sexual predators deserve to be punished to the fullest extent of the law. In fact, the punishment rarely fits the crime. A sexual assailant hurts a woman physically, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually. Memories never die, so the pain can last a lifetime. Furthermore, when pregnancy occurs, the rapist has created a needy human, an innocent human being who needs food, shelter, and a loving family.

These are drastic results of the rapist’s attack, results for which he ought to be punished and held fully accountable, both financially and legally. In the midst of all this guilt and tragedy, where there are no good outcomes for the mother, why do some pro-life Republicans propose that we start executing innocent children for the crimes of their fathers? Why are these legislators arguing that rape victims ought to be raped again with surgical instruments or chemicals in the process of murdering an innocent preborn human who had nothing to do with the crimes committed? Such a policy is morally indefensible. The popularity of rape exceptions among pro-life leaders and lobbyists demonstrates their indifference to the plight of the preborn and lack of honest conviction that their preborn neighbors possess a right to life.

In another startlingly bad pro-life idea, Republican Sen. David Bullard (via Senate Joint Resolution 30) wants to join Arizona and Florida in sending the question of abortion to a vote of the people. This would be akin to asking Louisiana plantation owners in 1850 to vote on the legality of chattel slavery. We should not be deciding absolute right and wrong by popular vote. Murder is not a matter of public opinion. God did not poll the Israelites before commanding, “You shall not murder.” Josiah did not take a vote of the people before tearing down the altars of child sacrifice. Let us not decide right and wrong by popular vote. Rather, our officials should do their duty before God to punish evildoers and protect the innocent.

The remaining bills are largely symbolic. They sound tough on abortion and appear to tighten regulations, but since mothers have been granted a legal license to kill, these bills ultimately will not save a demonstrable number of lives. The politicians who author them and vote for them are grandstanding so that they can once again claim they are “fighting abortion,” thus scoring political points for re-election.

Those of us who want to completely abolish abortion seem to meet an obstacle or active opposition at every step. Oddly, it comes not from Democrats and abortion advocates, but from those we thought were on our side – the pastor, the priest, and the pro-life politician. But they aren’t in a bar, and this is no joke.

Why will pro-life politicians not address the demand side? Why will they not truly criminalize the act of murder by abortion itself? The Pro-life Movement (PLM) has a dark side unknown to most believers. For a deeper dive into the corruption of the PLM, check out my new book Overcoming the Dark Side of the Pro-life Movement, now available in paperback and Kindle additions from Amazon.

Overcoming the Dark Side is full of stories about politicians and players you know and love (or not). Besides national names like President Donald Trump, Doctor Alan Keyes, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, some of the names you might recognize from local politics are Governor Mary Fallin, Attorney General John O’Connor, Attorney General Gentner Drummond, Senator Paul Rosino, Senator Joseph Silk, Senator Warren Hamilton, Pastor and Representative Dan Fisher, Representative David Brumbaugh, Pastor Paul Blair, Senate President pro tem Greg Treat, and Governor Kevin Stitt.

There are hundreds of books about abortion already out there, but Overcoming the Dark Side of the Pro-life Movement attempts to address some of the contentious issues overlooked or dodged by all the others. It prepares the anti-abortion activist to skillfully navigate the opposition and answer the arguments presented by the dark side of the PLM. This book is about doing the work of saving lives and saving souls despite the obstructions and opposition you will face within the PLM, even here in Oklahoma. May it encourage those already on the path to stay the course and inspire others to start a similar journey, but with a better road map.

John Michener is the Director of Oklahomans United for Life (OUL). You can contact him at:

john.michener@oku4life.org