• Listen to this segment

The state of Oklahoma passed two new draconian abortion laws on Tuesday. The first requires women to have an ultrasound in clear sight and listen to a detailed description of their fetus before undergoing an abortion. The second protects doctors from being sued for withholding information about birth defects evident in the womb from women. Both laws have been vetoed twice. Oklahoma governor Brad Henry vetoed a law containing both provisions in 2008, but it was overridden before being declared unconstitutional by an Oklahoma County judge on the technical grounds that it dealt with multiple subjects. The laws were then passed separately and vetoed once more this month by Governor Henry, who said that the ultrasound law provided for unconstitutional intrusions into a woman’s privacy and violated a doctor’s right to free speech. Of the other law, Henry said “it is unconscionable to grant a physician legal protection to mislead or misinform pregnant women in an effort to impose his or her personal beliefs on a patient.” The Oklahoma legislature overrode Governor Henry’s vetoes and passed the laws anyway. There are only 3 doctors in Oklahoma willing to perform abortions. Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi have passed laws requiring that doctors give women the option of seeing their ultrasound image. Several other states have passed similar laws and the Florida State Senate voted this Wednesday to require women seeking abortions to view an ultrasound unless they prove they were raped or abused.

GUEST: Anita Fream, Executive Director of Planned Parenthood of Central Oklahoma

For more information, visit www.ppcok.org and www.reproductiverights.org.