By John Michener

The 2022 regular session of the Oklahoma Legislature is about to begin. Since the Legislature convened its regular session one year ago, approximately 3,797 documented and reported murders by abortion were committed in Oklahoma. Considering that none of the several pro-life laws passed a year ago can be shown to have saved any lives, most have been held up in the courts, what might we expect from the Legislature this year?

My prediction is that we can expect more of the same. Old habits die hard, and we are five decades into passing State legislation that manages and regulates abortion practitioners and deathcamps. We already see bills filed to require more bureaucratic paperwork and forms, agent and agency involvement, and a civil liability proposal based on the concept enacted by Texas last year. Many “pro-life” legislators might also put off those constituents calling for full criminalization with the claim that we are now in a holding pattern, waiting for the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) to hand down a “ruling” later this summer from their temple on the D.C. heights. The mainstream approach will once again be to attempt to hinder murderous procedures by threat of bureaucratic red tape and costly court procedures. I will analyze some of these bills in upcoming articles.

A few serious pro-life legislators are beginning to think more like abolitionists. As they watch the death toll rise in spite of legislative efforts, they are rightly wondering what more they can do. The top question I get from legislators and candidates is, “Given that the courts block nearly everything passed, what can I actually do?” Keep in mind that the Legislature only wields the power of the pen and the purse. They can write laws and distribute money, but they cannot literally stop murder by abortion from occurring. That is the job of the executive branch. With that in mind, here are just two recommendations for Oklahoma legislators.

First, Oklahoma’s abortion-related statutes are contradictory. No doubt Senator Warren Hamilton will again file a bill to abolish “legal abortion” and harmonize abortion statutes with the State homicide code and constitutional requirements to provide due process and equal protection of the laws. Regardless of what any court might say afterward, any truly pro-life or abolitionist legislator should coauthor and support this legislation.

Second, the most immediate political reason that the abortion holocaust continues unabated is the absence of executive leadership and action. Approximately 13,782 (not counting undocumented or unreported) murders by abortion have been committed in Oklahoma since Governor Stitt took office. Furthermore, it cannot be demonstrated to date that the Governor has saved any preborn lives through the exercise of his authority. He does not appear poised to change his approach in his fourth year. Therefore, legislators ought to consider what influence they might have over the executive branch, whether that be through instructive admonition, political pressure, or financial leverage.

Sitting legislators are the political voices of the people. Therefore, they should use their voices to instruct other officials on their duties. Rather than allowing executive officers and other officials to continue hiding behind the Legislature and the judiciary, legislators should educate their constituents and instruct executive officers about what they could be doing to rescue preborn humans in Oklahoma. For instance, here are some excerpts from a resolution to abolish abortion which is currently under consideration:

WHEREAS, all human beings are created in the image of God, and are thus endowed by their Creator with an unalienable right to life; and

WHEREAS, elective abortion deprives an innocent human being of life, thereby constituting an act of murder; and

WHEREAS, all officers everywhere have a transcendent and moral duty to disregard and, where possible, resist an order from a superior to allow mass murder; and

WHEREAS, the Constitution of the United States (the Constitution) is the supreme law of the land throughout all the States and Territories of our union; and

WHEREAS, the Constitution mandates that no State shall deprive any human being of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, nor deny to any human being within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws; and

WHEREAS, Article 2 Section 2 of the Oklahoma Constitution states: “All persons have the inherent right to life…” and Article 2 Section 7 states: “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property, without due process of law;” and

WHEREAS, Oklahoma Title 21 § 691 states: “A. Homicide is the killing of one human being by another. B. As used in this section, ‘human being’ includes an unborn child…”; and

WHEREAS, any statute, court opinion, or executive order purporting to legalize the murder of a class of human beings clearly and egregiously violates Divine Natural Law and the higher laws of the Constitution and the Oklahoma Constitution; and

WHEREAS, those state statutes describing “legal abortion” are immoral and unconstitutional, and are therefore null and void; and

WHEREAS, Roe v. Wade and its corollaries violate the clear wording and meaning of the U.S. Constitution, and are therefore null and void; and

WHEREAS, Roe v. Wade and its corollaries have functioned like illegal “orders” from SCOTUS to the several States to permit mass murder; and

WHEREAS, public officials in Oklahoma are not bound by law or duty to approve, accept, or enforce SCOTUS’s perverted interpretation of the Constitution as it pertains to abortion; and

WHEREAS, public officials in Oklahoma have a transcendent moral obligation to ignore and, where possible, resist Roe v. Wade and its corollaries; and

WHEREAS, every officer of an Oklahoma state agency, state board, state commission, court, or other state institution has sworn: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America and the Constitution and the laws of the State of Oklahoma, and that I will faithfully discharge, according to the best of my ability, the duties of my office…”; and

WHEREAS, the Oklahoma House of Representatives has already called for similar action herein prescribed via HR 1004, passed on May 8, 2017;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SECOND SESSION OF THE 58TH OKLAHOMA LEGISLATURE:

THAT we hereby admonish the sheriffs of Oklahoma’s seventy-seven counties to blockade and/or restrain parents from murdering their preborn children by abortion and to maintain abortion-free counties;

THAT we hereby admonish the Oklahoma State Attorney General and State District Attorneys to investigate and gather evidence of the commission of murder by abortion in the State and to press charges and prosecute such cases under the State’s homicide code;

THAT we hereby admonish the Oklahoma Governor to declare ongoing murder by abortion in Oklahoma to be a State of Emergency;

THAT we hereby admonish the Oklahoma Governor to order the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety and Oklahoma Highway Patrol, to blockade and shut down abortion deathcamps to prevent any further murder by abortion and to maintain an abortion-free state;

THAT we hereby admonish the Oklahoma Governor to order the Oklahoma Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision, based upon the statutory provisions of “Unprofessional Conduct,” to revoke the medical license of any doctor who commits murder by abortion;

THAT we hereby admonish the Oklahoma Governor to mobilize the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to enforce executive orders to abolish abortion per OK Stat § 63-683.23;

THAT we hereby admonish every public official in Oklahoma, including, but not limited to, sheriffs, District Attorneys, judges and justices, the Attorney General, agency heads, the Governor, and those under their authority to exercise such legal means as are available to them in their respective jurisdictions to immediately abolish murder by abortion;

THAT we hereby admonish every public official in Oklahoma, whether municipal, county, state, or federal, and in every branch of government, to withhold all material aid and actively thwart any attempt to provide any material aid, to include expending of public funds, that might support, promote, or in any way abet murder by abortion being committed in a jurisdiction.

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

john.michener@oku4life.org