sb495 – Protestia

Cowards! OK ‘Pro-Life’ Politicians Seek To Kill Bill Abolishing Abortion

“Pro-life” politicians in Oklahoma are up to their dirty tricks again, this time seeking to stop the only abortion abolition bill put forward. In an act of extraordinarily convenient and suspect timing, the 13 members of the GOP controlled Health and Human Services Committee are seeking to vote on SB495 early this morning, before the ink has had time to dry on the paper and before the growing abolitionist movement and citizens of Oklahoma have had time to make their voices heard.

Unlike all of the incremental, toothless, nibble-around-the-edges pro-life bills passed by Republicans in the state over the last 40 years and still trying to be passed to this day, SB495 is unique in that it is designed to have Oklahoma completely and decisively abolish abortion regardless of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision that legalized the practice.

Under the proposed legislation, Oklahoma would ignore that court ruling and defy the Supreme Court if and when they invariably interfered.

Despite being the most pro-life state in the country* with a Republican supermajority in the House and Senate, these professing pro-life politicians don’t want to touch abolition with a 10-foot pole. In order to accomplish this furtive task, the vote is being held extremely early under the guise of “getting to bills they never got around to the last session,” even though SB495 is not one of those, having been introduced barely a week ago.

Russell Hunter, a lobbyist for Free the States and the chief architect of the modern-day abolitionist movement, believes this is their way of killing the bill early before Abolition Day, where thousands of constituents will make their voices heard in a mass rally of activism and ideological education.

He notes that all but two of the Senators voted against the previous iteration of this bill, SB13, and that of the two new faces in the legislature, one is a Democrat and the other has not been receptive to abolition overtures. With no intention of letting the bill have a hearing – they’ve chosen to step on the egg and crush the yolk before the baby dragon hatches.

The last action taken by these legislators was to kill the Abolition of Abortion Act back in 2019. Consequently, they’ve not had to deal with the outcry from their constituents about a piece of legislation regarding this subject since, particularly a very vocal segment that is rapidly gaining support from those whose paradigms shifted from regulation to abolition.

By aborting the bill before sponsor Warren Hamilton has a chance to really talk to his fellow Senators, whip support for the bill, pitch it to them, and seek to persuade them to vote for it, “pro-life” politicians are hoping it becomes a non-issue and they won’t have to endure months of sustained campaigning, emails, phone calls, rallies, mailers, and one-on-one meetings about it.

Russell Hunter explains the games pro-life legislators play to avoid voting for abolition

On top of SB495 coming up so early, the session also has 5 other abortion bills to be considered in committee, none of which advocate for the complete abolition of abortion and all of which are useless.

In particular is SB918, introduced by professing “Christ-follower” Greg Treat. This “pro-life bill” says that Oklahoma can only remove laws allowing abortion if the Supreme Court gives them permission. In contrast, SB495 has nullification written into it (from wiki: The idea that the state has the right to nullify or invalidate any federal law which that state has deemed unconstitutional with respect to the United States Constitution).

Treat is against nullification for preborn babies, insisting that they must abide by the edicts of the Supreme Court, but all the while supports nullification for medical Marijuana, despite federal laws against it. In his estimation, access to weed is worth fighting for, protecting the babies is not.

Perhaps worst of all, if SB495 is voted down, it would be dead for two full years. This is because the Oklahoma legislature operates in a two-year cycle and this bill and this language would not be able to be reintroduced until 2023. For this reason, there is a chance it may be pulled by its supporters in order to have time to gather support and steam and become a centerpiece for Abolition Day.

Hunter states that those caring about abolishing abortion need to stand up to these political games and let their voices be heard.

We need to make sure that…the committee knows that we do not want “defunding abortion,” we want abolishing abortion. We the people demand abolition! We want you to stand up for justice and mercy for the preborn, not just simply “well not with MY money.”

If you’re in Oklahoma this morning, please try to make it down to the Capitol building by 8:30 and join others there. If you can’t make it, Senator Hamilton asks that Oklahomans (and we ask others outside the state) to email all members of the committee asking them to vote in favor of the bill in case the bill is heard tomorrow.

Make sure you BCC all these people with a short but sweet message. A form letter/template has been provided below that should be personalized in some way that may serve as an example of content and length.

Emails: greg.mccortney@oksenate.gov, paul.rosino@oksenate.gov, julie.daniels@oksenate.gov, john.haste@oksenate.gov, carri.hicks@oksenate.gov, george.young@oksenate.gov, frank.simpson@oksenate.gov, rob.standridge@oksenate.gov, adam.pugh@oksenate.gov, joanna.dossett@oksenate.gov, jessica.garvin@oksenate.gov, greg.treat@oksenate.gov, kim.david@oksenate.gov

Email Subject Line : PLEASE SUPPORT SB495 to be discussed on the Senate floor

Message: Dear Senator,

I am contacting you today to graciously encourage you to put on the courage of Christ and support Senator Hamilton’s Bill SB495 Equal Justice & Equal Protection | The Abolition of Abortion In Oklahoma Act.

Please stand for the Word of God, The Constitution of the United States, and the Oklahoma Republican Party platform by sending SB495 to the Senate floor and on through the political process to establish equal protection and equal justice for all human beings beginning at conception.

Respectfully, Your name

*Oklahoma is widely considered the most pro-life state in the US. Republicans have a supermajority in both the House and Senate in Oklahoma. Of the 48 seats in the State Senate, 39 are held by Republicans and 9 by Democrats, meaning that over 80% of the senators are Republicans. In the House, the GOP clobbers the Democrats 77 to 24.

Furthermore, Oklahoma has a professing Republican pro-life Governor, a Republican pro-life Lieutenant Governor, a Republican pro-life President Pro Tem of the Senate, and a Republican pro-life majority floor leader.

Abortion Abolitionists Gearing Up For Abolition Now Conference and Abolition Day Rally

In what is fast becoming one of the most serious, culture-changing conferences in America, abortion abolitionists from Oklahoma are gearing up for Abolition Now – a two-day conference of teaching centered around engaging legislators and communities with the message of Biblical abolitionism.

The conference kicks off on Monday February 8 with a full day of presentations from abolitionist leaders including Russell Hunter, Bradley Pierce, Dusty Deevers, Senator Joseph Silk, and others. Day one will focus on preparing attendees to engage their elected officials as well as their communities. On Day 2, attendees along with thousands of other Oklahomans will put what they learned to use at the Abolition Day Rally at the Oklahoma State Capitol.

Then ralliers will head inside the Capitol to engage their legislators for a few hours, before the conference will conclude with a night of presentations on why Christians must move beyond pro-life incrementalism and abortion regulations to embrace consistent Biblical abolitionism. Hunter, Pierce, Jeff Durbin, and Brett Baggett will be teaching.

A few hundred will attend the conference and a few thousand will be at the rally. Compared to previous abolitionist conferences, this one is unique for the involvement of Oklahoma churches. Numerous pastors from inside the state will be teaching alongside the long-time movement leaders like Hunter and Pierce.

In the early years of the Abolitionist Movement, it largely lacked local church and pastoral involvement, as the message was seen as too radical by many Christian leaders. But enormous progress has been made in recent years with both the Oklahoma Baptists and Oklahoma State Association of Free Will Baptists passing resolutions in 2019 calling for the total abolition of abortion without compromise.

At the center of the event is a newly filed piece of legislation: Senate Bill 495, the successor to SB13. The bill was filed by Senator Warren Hamilton, an outspoken abortion abolitionist who won his seat after primarying and ousting the incumbent senator Larry Boggs for refusing to support actual legislation that sought to save the preborn. Boggs was in power for 8 years, and his defeat was a sign by many that the people of Oklahoma were willing to choose Warren’s abolition over his regulation when given an opportunity.

Unlike all of the incremental, toothless, nibble-around-the-edges pro-life bills passed by Republicans in the country over the last 40 years, SB495 is unique in that it is designed to have Oklahoma completely and decisively abolish abortion regardless of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision that legalized the practice.

Under the proposed legislation, Oklahoma would ignore that court ruling and defy the Supreme Court if and when they invariably interfered.

Consequently, the Abolition Day Rally and the Abolition Now Conference have grown from small grassroots events to a major totem and force to be reckoned with in Oklahoma politics, gathering steam and supporters daily. The conference educates people to convert them into full-throated abolitionists and the rally demonstrates the sheer size of the movement in the state.

Part of this is achieved by exposing the insanity and hypocrisy of Oklahoma’s pro-life political culture.

Oklahoma is widely considered the most pro-life state in the U.S. Republicans have a supermajority in both the House and Senate in Oklahoma. Of the 48 seats in the State Senate, 39 are held by Republicans and 9 by Democrats, meaning that over 80% of the senators are Republicans. In the House, the GOP clobbers the Democrats 77 to 24.

Despite this, hardly anyone in the government is actually interested in abolishing abortion in the state, with the issue being tossed around like a political football in order to score political points and accrue fundraising dollars. Last year, pro-life politicians refused to give SB13 a vote, and it died in committee.

For this reason, it’s not progressives and Democrat politicians who stand in the way – they have absolutely no power to stop it. Rather, bills like SB13, and now SB495 have for years been opposed by pro-life politicians and even pro-life organizations such as National Right to Life and religious leaders like Southern Baptist Convention JD Greear, who has publicly opposed the legislation.

Yet discontent is growing in the midst of the people who refuse to be mollified by pro-life politicians any longer, and Abolition Day helps shift that culture. In 2018, Dan Fisher ran for Governor of Oklahoma, receiving 35,818 votes, or nearly 8% of the total, an astounding achievement for a candidate running with only a fraction of the funding of his opponents on a platform that many previously viewed as radical.

SB495 is expected to engender the same support from key allies that its predecessor did, who contrary to SBC leadership, are unwavering and uncompromising in their desire to see it passed, including 100 Southern Baptist pastors from around the State who signed and delivered petitions calling for a fair hearing of SB13. That number is expected to grow this year.

With mainstream pro-life events like Rose Day, March for Life, and many other going all virtual, Abolition Day is expected to be the only game in town. Despite uncertainty around COVID 19, organizers are hoping to increase participation from last year, where they had over 2000 attendees for the rally.

The rally on the 9th is free for anyone to attend.

For those interested in the conference portion on the 8th, including those from out of state, please check out this link and register here.