Catholic dioceses in Oklahoma joined other Christian leaders on Monday to ask a federal court to let stand a state order halting elective abortions during the pandemic. “Abortion is not an absolute right,” said a friend-of-the-court brief filed April 6 by Alliance Defending Freedom on behalf of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, the Diocese of…Read More
U.S. District Judge Charles Goodwin has blocked Gov. Stitt’s order that abortion is an elective surgery. Judge Goodwin wrote in his decision that the state “has acted in an “unreasonable,” “arbitrary,” and “oppressive” way – and imposed an “undue burden” on abortion access.” It was decided that the benefit of a ban on medication abortions…Read More
Gov. Stitt issued a proclamation Wednesday declaring Thursday, March 26, a statewide day of prayer for all Oklahomans impacted by COVID-19. In recognition of this day of prayer, the governor has called for Oklahoma faith leaders to unite together at a special prayer and worship event called Let Hope Rise: Together In Prayer for Oklahoma.…Read More
We already are hearing talk about weighing the value of human life against the health of the nation’s economy and the strength of the stock market. It’s true that a depression would cause untold suffering for people around the world, hitting the poor the hardest. Still, each human life is more significant than a trillion-dollar…Read More
The Senate strengthened protections for the unborn Thursday with the passage of Senate Bill 1859. Sen. Paul Scott, R-Duncan, authored the bill to increase accountability of doctors administering abortions in Oklahoma. The bill would prohibit doctors from performing abortions beginning at six weeks if a fetal or embryonic heartbeat or brainwaves are present. Currently, at…Read More
Senator Ben Sasse called Monday for the Attorney General to investigate the website Pornhub. The senator said the site had promoted videos showing the sexual assault and rape of a victim of human trafficking. “The foremost duty of the Department of Justice is to ensure the safety of the American people, especially the most vulnerable among us,” Sen. Sasse…Read More
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry has dismissed arguments made before the Supreme Court against a state abortion law as “absolutely a lie.” In a Thursday interview, Landry said efforts to conflate the case with a Texas law regulating abortion clinics, struck down by the court in 2016, were clearly false. The Supreme Court heard oral…Read More
Home delivery of medical marijuana, a shorter dispensary setback from schools and making the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority its own agency are among proposals that survived last week’s first legislative deadline. But a bill banning billboards with medical marijuana advertising failed to make it through committee. The next major deadline is March 12, when bills…Read More
The Stitt administration is moving forward with plans to expand Medicaid to cover more low-income Oklahomans on July 1. The Oklahoma Health Care Authority on Friday submitted paperwork to expand Medicaid to adults ages 19-64 whose income does not exceed 133% of the federal poverty level, which is $16,970 annually for an individual and $34,846…Read More
A bill has been introduced in the Mississippi legislature to prohibit abortions being performed because of race, sex, or genetic abnormality, citing anti-discrimination laws and a recent opinion of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. House Bill 1295, the Life Equality Act of 2020, passed through a House committee March 3 and will soon be proposed…Read More