Med Mal News

In a sharp rebuke to Oklahoma legislators, Governor Mary Fallin vetoed a bill that would have subjected health care providers to criminal sanctions for performing abortions absent proof that the mother's life would be endangered should the pregnancy continue.

The Governor's office's release announcing the veto made a special point of clarifying that Fallin was, and remains, against abortion. See http://bit.ly/1sYQY9E. However, according to Fallin, “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.'” Clarifying, she said in the statement, “The absence of any definition, analysis or medical standard renders this exception vague, indefinite and vulnerable to subjective interpretation and application.” Rather than encourage a re-working of the bill, Gov. Fallin indicated the issue would be best left to the federal government: “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. In fact, the most direct path to a re-examination of the United States Supreme Court's ruling in Roe v. Wade is the appointment of a conservative, pro-life justice to the United States Supreme Court.”