Oklahoma's legislature voted to override Governor Brad Henry's veto of a controversial bill that included women being required to have an ultrasound before undergoing an abortion.
Sen. Todd Lamb (R, Edmond) and Rep. Pam Peterson (R, Tulsa) authored the bill which is the first bill the State Legislature has overridden since Gov. David Walters tenure.
The Oklahoma State Senate voted 37-11 to override the veto.. The Oklahoma House of Representatives followed by a vote of 81-15 for the override.
"I knew it would be an uphill battle to sustain the veto, but I thought it was important to fight to protect rape and incest victims from additional distress," Henry said in a statement. "I do not think it is morally responsible for the state to victimize those victims a second time by forcing them to undergo an ultrasound and hear a detailed description of it after they have made the difficult and heartwrenching decision to end their pregnancy. Under a law I previously signed, these women already have the option to request an ultrasound, but forcing the procedure on them after the trauma they have already suffered as a rape or incest victim is government regulation gone wrong."
Lamb issued a statement in which he said Henry's comments were not correct.
"Gov. Henry was factually inaccurate in his assertion that this bill forces victims of rape and incest to view an ultrasound of their unborn baby. The bill in no way forces a woman to view the ultrasound that is conducted before an abortion," Lamb said in his statement. "? Gazette staff
