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Religion & Law

: Religion Clause

Oklahoma Court's Ruling Apparently Invalidates Medical Providers Conscience Provisions

By Howard M. Friedman

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In 2008, the Oklahoma legislature enacted the Freedom of Conscience Act, SB 1878 (full text Word doc). The bill not only contains very broad conscience protections for medical personnel who object to participating in a variety of procedures, but it also requires medical providers, before performing an abortion, to conduct an ultrasound and describe and display in detail the ultrasound image to the woman seeking the abortion. The ultrasound provisions were challenged in a state court lawsuit filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights, as were certain provisions on wrongful birth actions and the administration of RU-486 to cause an abortion. (Background.)

AP reports that yesterday an Oklahoma County District Court struck down the law without getting to the primary constitutional issues. The court instead held that the statute violates the requirement in Sec. V-57 of the Oklahoma Constitution that any state statute deal only with a single subject. The effect of that holding, while opening the way to re-enactment of all the law's provisions in separate bills, also would seem to invalidate until re-enactment the freedom of conscience provisions that apparently had not been challenged by plaintiff.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on August 19, 2009 (boomark / email).