Court Upholds Two Pro-Life Oklahoma Laws

By Liz Townsend

        Separate panels of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals have ruled against an abortion clinic’s challenges to two Oklahoma laws: one requiring parents to be notified of their minor daughter’s abortion, and another requiring abortionists to pay for medical costs if an abortion is performed without parents’ knowledge. The decisions were hailed by pro-lifers.

        “The rulings mean so much for the babies’ lives that will be saved, the young girls who will be helped, and the parents who will be able to ‘be there’ for their minor daughters in a time of crisis,” Tony Lauinger, state chairman of Oklahomans for Life, told NRL News.

        Gov. Brad Henry signed the parental notification law May 20, and it went into effect immediately. In addition to requiring an abortionist to notify parents 48 hours before a minor’s abortion, the law also includes a provision recognizing unborn children as victims when they are injured or killed during the commission of a crime of violence and one requiring women to receive detailed information 24 hours before an abortion so they can make informed decisions.

        As soon as Henry signed the law, Nova Health Systems, which operates the Reproductive Services abortion clinic in Tulsa, challenged the parental notification provision and asked for an injunction to prevent enforcement of the law. However, U.S. Senior District Judge H. Dale Cook rejected the challenge May 27, stating that the law “does not infringe on a minor’s constitutional right to an abortion nor does the Act deny expedited access to the courts to authorize a minor’s abortion without one of her parents’ notification,” according to the Associated Press (AP).

        Nova appealed to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. A two-judge panel upheld Cook’s decision July 20, “in light of our determination that the provision is likely to withstand constitutional scrutiny,” Tulsa World reported.

        Oklahoma pro-lifers worked diligently to make sure the law would be upheld by the courts, with tremendous help from NRLC’s Washington office.

        “It illustrates the importance of National Right to Life’s Department of State Legislation, headed by attorney Mary Spaulding Balch, upon whom we called for assistance countless times as this legislation navigated its way through the legislative minefield, undergoing more than 30 changes in language along the way,” said Lauinger. “Mary kept the legislation constitutional at every turn.”

        The second ruling involved a 2001 law establishing that “Any person who performs an abortion on a minor without parental consent or knowledge shall be liable for the cost of any subsequent medical treatment such minor might require because of the abortion,” according to Tulsa World.

        The law was ruled unconstitutional in 2002, but Oklahoma officials appealed to the 10th Circuit. A three-judge panel of the appeals court ruled July 20 that Nova, who brought the challenge against officials who oversee public health facilities, did not have the legal standing to sue those defendants. The panel did not rule on the law’s merits.

        Lauinger applauded the courts for their decisions. “The rulings underscore the critical importance of elections: having a president who will nominate, and a senate that will confirm, judges who will faithfully interpret the clear meaning of the Constitution and laws of our nation and states,” said Lauinger.