Senate OKs plan to suspend licenses of abortion doctors

OKLAHOMA CITY – Any physician who performs an abortion would be unable to obtain a license to practice medicine in Oklahoma under a measure the state Senate approved overwhelmingly Tuesday over the objection of some Democrats who insisted the measure is unconstitutional.

The Republican-controlled Senate voted 40-7, mostly along party lines, to approve the bill by Broken Arrow Republican Sen. Nathan Dahm.

Anti-abortion activists packed the Senate gallery and applauded Dahm when he acknowledged the intent of the bill was to “protect the life of the unborn.”

“I think this is one of the core functions of government,” Dahm said. “All people have the inherent right to life.”

The bill directs Oklahoma medical licensure officials not to renew or grant a license to any physician who performs an abortion. It also provides that any doctor who has performed an abortion can be prohibited from obtaining a medical license.

Senate Democratic Leader John Sparks said the bill would never withstand an inevitable legal challenge.

A New York abortion rights group has filed seven legal challenges in the last five years to various anti-abortion laws passed by the Oklahoma Legislature, and most of those laws have been overturned by the courts. Some legal challenges are still pending.

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The bill now heads to the House for consideration.