Oklahoma

Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt signs one of several anti-abortion laws his legislature has been sending him. Photo: Sue Ogrocki/AP/Shutterstock Oklahoma’s Republican governor, Kevin Stitt, is famous for saying he wants his state to be “the most pro-life state in the country.” Indeed, he claims to speak for “all four million Oklahomans who overwhelmingly want to protect the unborn.” I don’t know about Stitt’s math skills. Four million is roughly the total population of Oklahoma, and according to the Pew Research Center’s survey data , 51 percent of adults in the state want abortion to be “legal in all/most cases.” Whoever the man thinks he is representing, he and his legislative allies definitely mean business when it comes to stamping out any vestige of abortion rights. The legislature keeps churning out ever-more-extreme abortion laws before the ink is even dry on the last one, as the New York Times observes . Oklahoma already has a trigger ban that would immediately … [Read more...] about Oklahoma Outdoes Itself in Race to Wipe Out Abortion Rights

I had barely had my first sip of coffee Friday morning when I received a text that made my jaw drop. “Heide, I’m in trouble. I’m pregnant.” As a woman in her mid 40s and a mother of three already, my friend—whose name I am withholding in anticipation of potential legal repercussions—was worried about the dangers surrounding what is sometimes known as geriatric pregnancy. Two of her children were already out of high school, and physically, mentally and emotionally, she wasn’t in a healthy position to have another baby. A day earlier, the Oklahoma legislature passed a bill that prohibits nearly all abortions from the point of fertilization. The bill lets private citizens sue abortion providers or anyone who “aids or abets” an abortion, and if signed by Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, it would take effect right away. In light of previous comments that he would sign any bill restricting abortions, Oklahoma is set to be arguably the strictest anti-abortion territory in the United … [Read more...] about The Urgent Terror of a Surprise Pregnancy in Oklahoma

In a wild proposal, Democrat Oklahoma State Rep. Mickey Dollens (D-OK) called for mandatory vasectomies for young men in order to highlight Republicans’ “absurd” banning of women’s abortions. Speaking at a meeting of the Oklahoma state legislature Thursday during a debate over a law to effectively ban abortion from the moment of “fertilization,” Dollens invited GOP lawmakers to “co-author a bill that I’m considering next year that would mandate that each male when they reach puberty get a mandatory vasectomy that’s only reversible when they reach the point of financial and emotional stability.” “If you think that’s crazy then I think maybe you understand how fifty percent of Oklahomans feel as well,” he added. HB4327 allows people to sue doctors for performing an abortion and defines life at the moment of “fertilization.” Here’s an idea: mandatory vasectomies – if signed into law would be the first Oklahoma statute to control the male reproductive system. No more unwanted … [Read more...] about Oklahoma Democrat Suggests ‘Mandatory Vasectomies’ After Legislature’s Abortion Ban

(CNN) — Kristin Chenoweth believes getting sick may have saved her life when she was a child. In the trailer for the docuseries “Keeper of the Ashes: The Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders,” the Tony-winning actress has shared that she was scheduled to be on a camping trip during which three of her Girl Scout friends were sexually assaulted and murdered in 1977. READ MORE: K-9 Locates Missing Woman In Thonotosassa “This is a story I wish I never had to tell,” Chenoweth says in the trailer. “It haunts me every day.” Chenoweth went back to her home state to participate in reexamining the murders of Lori Lee Farmer, 8, Michele Heather Guse, 9, and Doris Denise Milner, 10, at Camp Scott near Locust Grove, Oklahoma. In the trailer, the actress explains how much she loved going to camp as a Girl Scout and how she saw the troop members as her “sisters.” “I never once thought anything bad could happen,” she says. “But I came to learn what murder was.” Police arrested a local man, Gene … [Read more...] about The Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders And Kristin Chenoweth Connection In Docuseries

Alabama has had the fewest road losses in college football over the past decade. According to a tweet from FOX College Football, Alabama has the best road record in all of college football since 2010 at 36-6 (.857). (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football) The Crimson Tide are followed by Oklahoma at 41-7 (.854) and Ohio State at 38-8 (.826). You can check out the full list below. ???????? @AlabamaFTBL , @OU_Football & @OhioStateFB all averaged less than 1 road loss per year in the last decade pic.twitter.com/SnBMFYq6rH — FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) April 1, 2020 As much as I hate Alabama and the SEC, you’re lying to yourself if you don’t think the Crimson Tide are a juggernaut. Nick Saban has turned Alabama into arguably the most formidable force in all of college sports. They just don’t know how to lose under him. View this post on Instagram … [Read more...] about Alabama, Oklahoma And Ohio State Have The Fewest Road Losses In College Football Since 2010

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris will speak Thursday with abortion providers from states with some of the nation's strictest restrictions to thank them for their work, the White House said. Harris' virtual meeting with medical professionals practicing in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Missouri and Montana comes weeks after the leaks of a draft Supreme Court opinion suggesting that justices are on the brink of overturning the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. Justices are expected to issue their final ruling in the next six weeks, but those states and others are already laying the groundwork to ban abortion outright if the court allows individual states to set their own rules for the procedure. “The Vice President will hear stories from abortion providers who are working in states with some of the most extreme abortion restrictions, and she will thank them for fighting to protect reproductive health care, despite personal risk,” the White … [Read more...] about Harris to meet with abortion providers as court ruling looms