Senator Barrington Seeks to Send Pro-Life Bill Directly to Governor Henry

State Sen. Don Barrington said he wants the Oklahoma State Senate to send a pro-life bill directly to the governor instead of relegating the bill to a House-Senate conference committee where it would likely be dead for the 2006 legislative session.

Senate Bill 1742, authored by Barrington, was amended in the House of Representatives to include legislative language from several pro-life bills that were killed by the Senate’s Democrat leadership earlier this year.

With just two weeks remaining in the 2006 legislative session, Barrington hopes the Senate’s Democrat leadership will schedule an up-or-down vote on SB 1742 to occur soon after newly elected Sen. Mike Schulz, R-Altus, is seated next week.

“This pro-life bill overwhelmingly passed the House, and it deserves to have an up-or-down vote by the full Senate. I intend to move that the Senate accept the House’s amendments so my bill can be sent directly to Gov. Henry,” said Barrington, R-Lawton. “My fear is if SB 1742 gets sent to a House-Senate conference committee it will never see the light of day.”

SB 1742’s provisions include:

- Requiring the consent of one parent before a minor can receive an abortion.

- Expanding the recognition of an unborn child as a separate victim if a crime is committed against the mother.

- Ensuring 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.

- Ensuring that a woman seeking an abortion has the option to view her unborn baby by ultrasound prior to the abortion.

- Allowing funding to be directed to organizations that help pregnant women with pro-life counseling and support-services.