Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry (D) yesterday signed into law a multifaceted pro-life measure passed overwhelmingly by both houses of the legislature. HB 1595, the chief legislative priority of Oklahomans For Life this session, is a comprehensive abortion-reporting bill which also prohibits sex-selection abortions. Mary Spaulding Balch, NRL director of state legislation, says the reporting provisions are "the most comprehensive in the nation."

The Governor yesterday also signed HB 1114, which bans all cloning of human embryos, whether for research or reproductive purposes.

"We applaud the efforts of our Oklahoma affiliate, Oklahomans For Life, in shepherding these two pieces of legislation to the Governor's desk," said Balch. "Through the guidance and leadership provided by Oklahomans For Life, pro-lifers have enacted a series of laws over the past five years which protect mothers and their unborn children from the abortion industry, which is often highly unregulated."

Tony Lauinger, state chairman of Oklahomans For Life, hailed the work of pro-lifers in the legislature. "We have the greatest admiration and appreciation for the courageous, committed, creative, and uncompromising pro-life legislators with whom we are privileged to work," he said. "They don't know the meaning of the word 'quit'."

Had the Governor vetoed the abortion-reporting/sex-selection bill, he faced the very realistic prospect of being overridden. Last Friday, the state Senate joined the House in giving overwhelming approval to HB 1595. The vote was 35-9. Earlier last week the vote in the House was even more overwhelming, 88-6. There was still no assurance Henry would sign the bill, however.

Thirty-two votes would have been required in the 48-member Senate to override a veto had the Governor followed that course.

Democrat Henry signed pro-life bills into law in both 2005 and 2006. However, after he was re-elected in 2006 for the second and final time (because of term limits), Henry vetoed pro-life bills in 2007 and 2008. He also vetoed a bill, HB 1326, prohibiting embryo-destructive stem-cell research, on April 22 of this year, and although the House overrode the veto, the Senate came up short of the necessary votes to override.

In response, pro-life legislators inserted into another bill language banning the cloning of human embryos. That bill, HB 1114, passed both the House and the Senate on May 15. After having repeatedly made the argument, in defense of his veto of HB 1326, that these so-called "surplus" embryos at fertility clinics "are going to be discarded anyway," the Governor would have been hard-pressed to justify vetoing a cloning ban which prohibits the creation of human lives for the purpose of destroying them.

Lauinger 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."

Asked how he felt, Lauinger responded, "Having a self-described 'pro-choice' Democratic governor is more than offset by having – for the first time in state history – Republican pro-life majorities in both the Senate and the House." He added, "This strong Republican pro-life leadership made possible the gains that were achieved this year in defending our littlest sisters and brothers."

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