Oklahoma Supreme Court Maintains Temporary Ban On Anti-Abortion Laws Pending Lawsuit
A 5-4 majority ruling from the Oklahoma Supreme Court says three laws related to abortion should be put on hold pending legal challenges. StateImpact’s Jillian Taylor has more on the laws and what the decision means.
The ruling is based on three laws that restrict medication abortions and require physicians performing abortions to be board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology. It orders a lower court to keep a temporary ban on the three laws in place while a lawsuit works its way through the courts.
The 2021 suit covers five abortion laws, and the remaining two were blocked by the lower court in 2021. Tuesday’s decision is in line with the court’s position that the state constitution guarantees a woman’s right to an abortion when necessary to preserve her life.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s office says it’s reviewing the court’s decision and will respond accordingly.
Election Results
Voters in 24 Oklahoma counties cast their ballots Tuesday for elections, largely focused on school and municipal bonds.
Broken Arrow voters approved a $52 million school bond package. The majority will go toward new technology and facility maintenance. School officials say property owners won’t see a property tax increase.
Skiatook voters overwhelmingly passed a 15-year, one-cent sales tax increase. As a result, the city will construct two new police and fire stations.
Moore residents approved a $49.3 million general obligation bond to fund basic street and bridge improvements and repairs.
Sara Hill To Appear Before Senate Judiciary Committee
Former Cherokee Nation Attorney General Sara Hill will appear before Congress Wednesday on her path to becoming Oklahoma's first Native American woman to serve as a federal judge.
Hill would be just the eighth Native American judge in United States History and would work out of the Northern District of Oklahoma..
She recently served as the attorney general for the Cherokee Nation and oversaw a huge influx of criminal cases under the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma.
Hill also wrote many amicus briefs in other cases of national importance. That includes the Oklahoma v. Castro Huerta case, which tweaked criminal jurisdiction after McGirt.
She also helped out in last summer's Haaland v. Brackeen case, which was seen as a victory for tribal sovereignty and Native children after it upheld the Indian Child Welfare Act.
Court Denies OKSDE Motion To Intervene In St. Isidore Suit
Last week, the State Department of Education filed a motion to be named as one of the parties in a lawsuit against the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board brought by the attorney general. The department’s motion was denied Tuesday.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond filed the suit last month against the Board for approving a contract with the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual Charter School — which would be the nation’s first publicly funded religious school.
In its motion to intervene, the state department argued because it distributes funds to schools, it should be party to the suit. Drummond fired back in an objection, saying the department’s duty to disperse state funds is no more than a binary, ministerial act.
If the court ultimately sides with Drummond in the suit, the department couldn’t distribute funds to a non-existent charter school. If it sides with the Charter School Board, the department will dole out whatever amount of funds is determined by the legislature. Either way, Drummond says, that doesn’t give them standing.
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