Abortion: With veto quashed, curbs to become Oklahoma law on Nov. 1

A measure will become law Nov. 1 requiring that a woman get a description of ultrasound images of her unborn child and be offered those images before getting an abortion.

Legislators acted quickly Thursday to override Gov. Brad Henry's veto of the anti-abortion measure, Senate Bill 1878. By noon, less than 16 hours after the governor's Wednesday night action, members of both chambers voted to override his veto.

"I'm glad the Legislature did the right thing today and stood for life,” said Rep. Pam Peterson, R-Tulsa, House author of the bill.

Sen. Todd Lamb, R-Edmond, Senate author of SB 1878, said, "I want to thank my Senate and House colleagues for taking a stand for the unborn and for the sanctity of life by overriding this unconscionable veto.”

It was the first override of a veto by Henry since he took office in 2003.

"I knew it would be an uphill battle to sustain the veto, but I thought it was important to fight to protect rape and incest victims from additional distress,” Henry said.

"I do not think it is morally responsible for the state to victimize those victims a second time by forcing them to undergo an ultrasound and hear a detailed description of it after they have made the difficult and heartwrenching decision to end their pregnancy,” the governor said. "Under a law I previously signed, these women already have the option to request an ultrasound, but forcing the procedure on them after the trauma they have already suffered as a rape or incest victim is government regulation gone wrong.”

SB 1878, among other things, requires that the woman be given a description of the ultrasound images and that medical providers display the ultrasound images so the woman can see them.

Nothing prevents the woman from "averting her eyes” from the ultrasound, according to the bill.

"Neither the physician nor the pregnant woman shall be subject to any penalty if she refuses to look at the presented ultrasound images,” the bill states.

However, the measure states the physician who is to perform or induce the abortion must "provide a simultaneous explanation of what the ultrasound is depicting.”

The description shall include "the dimensions of the embryo or fetus, the presence of cardiac activity, if present and viewable, and the presence of external members and internal organs, if present and viewable,” the bill states.

"As I have said many times, I support reasonable restrictions on abortion procedures and have signed several such bills into law during my time in office,”