Oklahoma governor vetoes bill making abortion a felony

The bill would have sent doctors who performed abortions to prison.

Mary Fallin speaks. (Mike Theiler/Reuters)

Oklahoma’s Republican Governor Mary Fallin vetoed a bill on Friday that would have sent doctors who performed abortions to prison.

Governor Fallin said that the legislation would have never withstood a criminal constitutional legal challenge, since the US Supreme Court ruled abortion legal in 1973.

"The bill is so ambiguous and so vague that doctors cannot be certain what medical circumstances would be considered 'necessary to preserve the life of the mother,'" Fallin said. "While I consistently have and continue to support a re-examination of the United States Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade, this legislation cannot accomplish that re-examination."

The statement from the governor’s office also reassured her supporters that she is the “most pro-life governor in the nation.”

The Republican-dominated legislature approved the bill yesterday, that would have revoked the license of any doctor performing abortions. Abortion rights groups promised a tough and expensive legal battle if the bill had been signed into law, which Oklahoma simply could not afford as it battles a $1.3 billion budget hole, according to Reuters.

“Governor Fallin did the right thing today in vetoing this utterly unconstitutional and dangerous bill,” Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement.