By Dave Andrusko

Part Two Talks about the retirement rumors surrounding pro-abortion Justice John Paul Stevens. Please be sure to check out our new site www.nationalrightotlifenews.org.  If you have time send all your comments to daveandrusko@gmail.com.

Undeterred by a successful legal challenge, pro-lifers in Oklahoma have roared back to pass three measures signed into law today by the governor with four more working their way through the legislature. Each of the three had at least two-thirds support, meaning the measures will take effect immediately.

Mary Spaulding Balch, NRLC State Legislative Director, said the bills address the abortifacient RU 486 (SB 1902,); a ban on sex-selection abortions (SB 1890); and a conscience clause for physicians (SB 1891).

"Each is vitally important," Balch said. SB 1902 "requires the abortionist to be in the room when the abortifacient is administered." This is particularly important in light of the growing evidence of a trend to set up satellite abortion clinics where the abortionist is available not in person but by video. The law also requires the woman be properly monitored subsequently.

Tony Lauinger, state chairman of Oklahomans For Life

SB 1890 "prohibits abortions done for the purpose of sex selection." Tony Lauinger, state chairman of Oklahomans For Life, said that sex-selection abortions are a serious problem in some parts of the world, especially in China, India, Korea, and Vietnam. "There is evidence of the same trend among families from those countries who live in the United States," he said.

"'DNA Gender Test Kits' are now available online, and can determine the sex of an unborn child as early as seven weeks after conception," Lauinger explained. "In an age of 'designer' babies, some parents are tempted to screen for the child they want, and then turn to abortion if the child is the 'wrong' sex."

SB 1891 affirms the right of health care professionals not to participate in abortions or other actions that cause the destruction of an innocent human life.

The Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) challenged the laws passed in 2008 and 2009. State courts held there were too many abortion-related provisions in the same law, violating Oklahoma's nebulous "single-subject" rule. As a result seven separate bills were introduced this session.

A staffer for CRR earlier "said there is a 'good chance' the group would file legal challenges to one or all the measures if they were allowed to become law," according to NewsOk.com.

Still to be dealt with are bills dealing with ultrasound, reporting requirements, coerced abortions, and a ban on Wrongful Life suits.

Balch explained that the reporting requirements are intended to garner the most accurate data about abortion and abortion complications.

Another bill denies claims for "wrongful life" lawsuits that contend that a disabled baby would have been better off if he or she had been aborted. The bill states that "the birth of a child does not constitute a legally recognizable injury and that it is contrary to public policy to award damages because of the birth of a child or for the rearing of that child."

Another law protects women from forced abortions, requiring a prominently posted sign in abortion clinics stating, "It is against the law for anyone, regardless of his or her relationship to you, to force you to have an abortion." The abortionist must also speak directly to the aborting woman if she is a minor and inform her that she cannot be forced to have an abortion, and that "an abortion cannot be provided unless she provides her freely given, voluntary, and informed consent."

The ultrasound measure "takes the onus off the pregnant woman," Balch explained. Rather than the woman having to ask to see an ultrasound of her unborn baby prior to an abortion, the law requires the abortionist to display the ultrasound, leaving it up to the mother to decide whether to look.

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Part Two