OCPAC – SB 1552: Bill Dies With Babies?
John Michener
1. A Time for Justice
2. Override the Veto
3. Commentary on SB 1552
1. A Time for Justice
Deplorable, despicable, repugnant. Add a few of your own. Governor Mary Failin’ typifies everything that is wrong with the pro-life movement in America. On 8 October 2015 Gov. Failin’ met with a group of pastors, legislators, and a constitutional attorney in her board room. In that meeting, she was fully advised of the strategy of SB 1552, and she promised her support if the bill made it to her desk. Last week, when the bill did reach her desk, she immediately vetoed it. She is a lying, hypocritical, wicked, cowardly, and deceitful politician.
The practice of modern day child sacrifice became accepted public policy overnight. Officials of today could ban the practice just as fast…if they were righteous and courageous.
Every official has a duty to God and to the citizens they are sworn to protect to uphold state and federal law. Every elected official in Oklahoma has sworn an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution which reads as follows:
The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
No person shall be…deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law…
The Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
Nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
The Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. [Civil law was never delegated to the United States.]
What is keeping our officials from doing their duty? A good number of them probably believe these legal lies: 1) Abortion is constitutional. 2) Court opinions determine what is lawful. 3) Officials are subject to the courts. 4) The battle must be fought in court. 5) Officials can only educate about abortion and regulate abortion.
In contrast, here is the legal truth: 1) Abortion is unconstitutional. 2) The Constitution determines what is lawful. 3) Officials are subject to the Constitution and to God. 4) The battle must be fought against the court. 5) The only legal and moral option is for officials to defy the court and abolish abortion.
Our officials hold many different beliefs which keep them from protecting the innocent. Like the idol worshipers of old, a few officials believe in the general benefits of child sacrifice. They advocate for keeping the practice legal and available. Some who profess to be pro-life want to keep using dead babies as political footballs. Abortion as a perpetual problem helps them get reelected. Others know their duty before God, but they are too scared to do it, or they believe the lies outlined above. They need us to teach them differently. Still others know their duty, and they want to stop abortion, but they pursue strategies such as the following which have proven ineffective: 1) We must elect a pro-life President. 2) Pro-life judges will overturn Roe v. Wade. 3) We must be patient; we did not get here overnight, so we must take incremental steps. 4) We must first change the culture; then we can change the policy.
In contrast, here is the strategic truth: 1) Pro-life Presidents have presided over murdered children. 2) Pro-life judges have maintained the status quo. 3) Murder victims cannot afford our patience. The time for justice is now! Evil is often begun with an immediate change. An immediate change can stop the evil. 4) Righteous leaders change policy, and policy changes culture.
It is time for us to scrutinize, educate, and cajole officials to exercise their legal and moral duty to uphold the law. Officials at every level can be active in saving lives and upholding the laws which they have sworn to uphold. For example:
- The county sheriff
should arrest abortion doctors or blockade abortion death camps.
- The governor should
send the National Guard to blockade or close abortion death camps.
- The attorney
general should prosecute those who practice abortion.
- The legislature
should repeal any measures which abrogate or hinder the proper application of
the Oklahoma statute against abortion (21 O.S. § 861).
- The legislature
should pass a resolution calling on the governor, sheriffs, district attorneys,
and the attorney general to defy the courts and faithfully carry out
anti-abortion law in Oklahoma.
- The legislature
should impeach, fire, or defund any judge who fails to faithfully adjudicate
Oklahoma and U.S. law.
- Oklahoma judges and
federal district judges should declare Roe
v. Wade and Casey v. Planned Parent
to be unconstitutional.
It is election season all across the United States. We have a chance to select righteous rulers at every level of government. In the days of King Josiah, the culture was wicked. The people were sacrificing their own children, but Josiah put a stop to it through the power of his office. Today is no different. We must support only those officials who will exercise their power to immediately follow the law and protect the innocent. We must elect officials who have not believed the lies.
The biggest lie of all is that we must wait. We must wait until we have a conservative majority. We must wait until we can replace supreme court judges. We must wait until we can transform the culture.
If an official wants to compromise and continue child sacrifice until some future date, then do not support that official. Support the official who will use the power of his position to put public policy in line with the Constitution and God’s law, teach the people, and tear down the child sacrifice centers. The time for justice is always now!
An ancient proverb says, “When the wicked rise to power, people hide; but when the wicked perish, the righteous flourish. Whoever remains obstinate after much rebuke will suddenly be destroyed without remedy. When the righteous flourish, the people rejoice; but when the wicked rule, the people groan” (Prov. 28:28-29:3).
The people of Oklahoma are groaning.
2. Override the Veto
Join us at the Capitol on Wednesday 25 May 2016 at 2:00 PM to ask the Legislature to override the governor’s veto of SB 1552. Meet us in the Hall of Governors which is in the southwest corner of the second floor. We will have handouts to give to legislators, and we will partner first-time activists with someone experienced. Come and bring friends!
3. Commentary on SB 1552
SB 1552 adds abortion to a list of activities which doctors are not allowed to do without losing their licenses. Such a measure is proper and ethically consistent. It is a good and principled bill.
Even if this measure is successful, we will still have to establish justice for the unborn by defining abortion as murder at a future date. Since abortion is currently accepted practice, pursuing regulatory licensing to end abortion without defeating abortion head-on implicitly gives credibility to the U.S. Supreme Court and Roe v. Wade by not challenging them directly. However, it is a mechanism available to us right now which we can implement to possibly stop a new abortion clinic from opening, stop some abortions, and fight for states’ rights.
Many say this measure will do nothing because it will die in court. So would a bill to establish abortion as murder. While there is a good chance of a legal battle, that does not mean we should not do the right thing in this moment. We should continue to give our officials in every branch of government the opportunity to uphold justice. With every bill to be voted upon, with every bill to be signed, and with every opinion to be written, officials have a fresh opportunity to repent and uphold justice, or to once again condemn themselves before God.
It is the height of arrogance to presume to know the future. While there is still a chance to enact a principled law like SB 1552, we should fight for it. Sometimes God chooses to use the smallest and meekest of measures to accomplish his purposes on the earth.
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· The views expressed in this email are the personal opinion of John Michener and do not necessarily reflect the views of OCPAC, its leadership team, or its members.