# Oklahoma Legislature Passes Bill Making it a Felony to Perform Abortions **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 19, 2016, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-legislature-passes-bill-making-it-a-felony-to-perform-abortions/755182 "2016-05-19T20:10:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-legislature-passes-bill-making-it-a-felony-to-perform-abortions/755182/41 "2016-05-21T01:05:39Z")
> [@spamforbrains](#): > > If they pass a blatantly unconstitutional law can they be impeached on the grounds they broke their vow? Assuming legislators can even be impeached in a given state (that’s usually for the executive and judicial branches), the _same legislators that passed the law_ would have to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-legislature-passes-bill-making-it-a-felony-to-perform-abortions/755182/42 "2016-05-21T01:14:06Z")
Abortion is the main reason the Republican Party is still around, but not for the reason one might think. If one goes with two factors - the first being that children are somewhat more likely than not to adhere to the political beliefs of their parents - and the second being that people who are pro-abortion are more likely to have an abortion than people who are pro-life - then what this means is that, over the decades, millions of pro-choice people have aborted their children - people who, had they been born, would have, probably, when they reached voting age, been pro-choice voters. I think this is called the Roe Effect. Anyway, abortion, in a weird way, benefits the Republican Party. Without, the GOP would have been absolutely dwarfed in the vote tally by the Democrats by now. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-legislature-passes-bill-making-it-a-felony-to-perform-abortions/755182/43 "2016-05-21T02:10:15Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Well, well. Once in a while we get a Sensible Republican Idea Of The Day (or SRIOTD). Given what we’ve read about the gov’s strong pro-life / anti-abortion record, it seems that sensible critical thinking can sometimes still prevail. It would have been, but part of her explanation was that what is really needed is activist judges on SCOTUS with a right wing agenda. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-legislature-passes-bill-making-it-a-felony-to-perform-abortions/755182/44 "2016-05-21T03:31:43Z")
> [@spamforbrains](#): > > Don’t the state legislators and senators have to take a vow to uphold the constitution? If they pass a blatantly unconstitutional law can they be impeached on the grounds they broke their vow? > [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > Assuming legislators can even be impeached in a given state (that’s usually for the executive and judicial branches), the _same legislators that passed the law_ would have to do it. Right. Legislators (and members of Congress) are not impeached. They are put to a vote of censure _by the body they sit in_, and removal is _extraordinarily_ rare. Or, the voters bounce them at the ballot box if they manage to tick off enough of the population in the process. As mentioned earlier, in the US unconstitutionality is adjudicated \*after \*the fact. As long as you had any remotely better than “aliens from Pluto controlled my body” excuse as to why at the time you cast your vote you were under the delusion that it should have been constitutional, you’re covered. Even if it adds up to “I’m dumber than a sack of drilling bits”. And the defense of this crew is along the lines of _“no, I AM upholding the Constitution, it’s the Roe Court that perverted it, I seek to restore it!”_ They swear that they’ll defend the Constitution, but not that they know what it actually means or how it works. ---
**Author:** ![spamforbrains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@spamforbrains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spamforbrains)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-legislature-passes-bill-making-it-a-felony-to-perform-abortions/755182/45 "2016-05-21T14:59:45Z")
> [@](#): > > If one goes with two factors - the first being that children are somewhat more likely than not to adhere to the political beliefs of their parents - and the second being that people who are pro-abortion are more likely to have an abortion than people who are pro-life - then what this means is that, over the decades, millions of pro-choice people have aborted their children - people who, had they been born, would have, probably, when they reached voting age, been pro-choice voters. I’m not sure this is true. I saw a study showing that Christians, much more likely to be pro-life than others, have a much higher abortion rate than other religious groups. Possibly because many Christians are also opposed to the more effective forms of birth control, and also because they are opposed to sex education. An amazing number of pro-life people suddenly become pro-choice when they are faced with an unwanted pregnancy that will literally ruin their life if carried to term. > [@](#): > > Quote: > Originally Posted by Shoeless View Post > Not only that, but a total lack of funding for social programs to support the mother after the child is born. Food, medical care, daycare… make the mother pay for it! Get two jobs if you have to! It’s like they only care about the fetuses as a human beings until they are born, then they are on their own." > Why, it’s almost as if their actual goal was to make life hard for women who get pregnant out of wedlock … Yeah, that’s a pervasive myth, that it’s only young, single women knocked up for the first time who get abortions. Worldwide, 70% of abortions are performed on married couples. In the US, around 30% of abortions are performed on married couples, and 60% of abortions are performed on women who are currently raising children and simply don’t want any more. We don’t know how many of these are in committed relationships (aka technically not married but also technically not single). ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-legislature-passes-bill-making-it-a-felony-to-perform-abortions/755182/46 "2016-05-23T13:23:18Z")
> [@spamforbrains](#): > > Don’t the state legislators and senators have to take a vow to uphold the constitution? If they pass a blatantly unconstitutional law can they be impeached on the grounds they broke their vow? So… for example… the legislators that vote to infringe the right to own and carry handguns? The right to abortion is inferred from a number of different provisions in the Constitution; the right to bear arms is explicitly stated. So _a fortiori_, a legislator seeking to infringe the right to bear arms would be an even more appropriate target for this measure – right? ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-legislature-passes-bill-making-it-a-felony-to-perform-abortions/755182/47 "2016-05-23T13:31:54Z")
Chefguy: > [@](#): > > It would have been, but part of her explanation was that what is really needed is activist judges on SCOTUS with a right wing agenda. It’s still more sensible than signing the bill to appease right wingers even though she knows the law will be struck down by the Supreme Court as it currently stands. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-legislature-passes-bill-making-it-a-felony-to-perform-abortions/755182/48 "2016-05-23T13:41:09Z")
> [@spamforbrains](#): > > I’m not sure this is true. I saw a study showing that Christians, much more likely to be pro-life than others, have a much higher abortion rate than other religious groups. Possibly because many Christians are also opposed to the more effective forms of birth control, and also because they are opposed to sex education. An amazing number of pro-life people suddenly become pro-choice when they are faced with an unwanted pregnancy that will literally ruin their life if carried to term. [The Only Moral Abortion is My Abortion](http://www.prochoiceactionnetwork-canada.org/articles/anti-tales.shtml) Here’s another example of the anti-abortion crowd’s hypocrisy: The picketers in my town are always screaming that adoption is the answer. Until you mention gay and lesbians adopting. Then it suddenly becomes child abuse because “a child needs a mother and a father.” Yet if the woman decides to keep her child, single mother hood is okay. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-legislature-passes-bill-making-it-a-felony-to-perform-abortions/755182/49 "2016-05-23T15:12:40Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I once met a woman and in conversation it came up that she was from Oklahoma. I said, “Oh, cool! I’ve never met an Okie!” > > Her reply was, “Fuck you asshole!” > > From the little interaction I’ve had with people from Oklahoma, they are not nice folks. She sounds like a bitch, but there are still a few outside of the state that use Okie as an insult (even though Oklahoma has embraced it). I have heard it a few times in California used as an insulting term. That said - Oklahoma is an example of what happens when a single state keeps on electing politicians who are further and further to the right (from my perspective - maybe I have just been gone too long). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-legislature-passes-bill-making-it-a-felony-to-perform-abortions/755182.md?page=2)