Oklahoma governor vetoes bill making abortion a felony

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin vetoed a bill today that would have criminalized abortion in the state, saying the proposed law was too vague and wouldn’t survive an inevitable test in court.

The Oklahoma Senate on Thursday passed the measure to make performing abortion “unprofessional conduct” and a felony. Any physician convicted of assisting in an abortion would face one to three years in prison and the revocation of his or her medical license. The bill included an exception to allow an abortion to save the mother’s life.

“The bill is so ambiguous and so vague that doctors cannot be certain what medical circumstances would be considered ‘necessary to preserve the life of the mother,’” Fallin said. “While I consistently have and continue to support a re-examination of the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade, this legislation cannot accomplish that re-examination.”

The bill’s sponsor, Republican Sen. Nathan Dahm, said he wrote the bill for that reason—to force the Supreme Court to revisit the decision it made in 1973 to legalize abortion nationwide. Dahm said he was considering whether to try to override the governor’s veto, which would require a two-thirds majority in each chamber. The bill passed on a 33-12 vote in the Senate with no debate on Thursday; it passed 59-9 in the 101-member House on April 21.

In a statement issued today, the governor’s office boasted that Fallin has signed 18 bills “protecting the health and lives of mothers and their unborn children” and called her “the most pro-life governor in the nation.” Americans United for Life this year named Oklahoma the most pro-life state, and NARAL Pro-Choice America listed it as 43rd in its ranking of abortion-friendly states.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.