Priests urge Oklahoma governor to sign pro-life bill

May 21, 2006 / 22:00 pm

The Oklahoma Senate has passed a comprehensive pro-life bill on a number of abortion-related matters. If signed into law, SB 1742 would require the consent of one parent before a minor can receive an abortion. It would expand the recognition of an unborn child as a separate victim if a crime is committed against the mother.

It would also ensure that a woman is informed that her unborn baby, if 20 weeks or older, may feel pain during an abortion and that anesthesia could be administered to the baby to relieve that pain. It would ensure that a woman seeking an abortion has the option to view her unborn baby by ultrasound prior to the abortion. And it would allow funding to be directed to organizations that help pregnant women with pro-life counseling and support-services.

National Priests for Life is urging the governor to sign the bill into law.

“The people of Oklahoma, through this legislation, reflect a growing trend across America toward more common sense about abortion,” said Fr. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life. The priest said that those who do not agree with the tenets of the bill are “a misguided minority.”

“The more awareness we promote of the child in the womb, the safer that child becomes,” he said in a statement. “Oklahoma legislators have opened windows to the world of the unborn that will hopefully save many, many lives.”