Oklahoma Lawmakers Pass Resolution Directing All Officials to Stop 'Murder of Unborn Children by Abortion'
In a show of defiance to the highest court of the land, Oklahoma lawmakers passed a resolution essentially calling on all state officials to ignore U.S. Supreme Court decisions legalizing abortion and directing them to exercise their authority to stop the "murder of unborn children by abortion."
The state's House of Representative approved Resolution 1004 by a voice vote on Monday without any debate or discussion, Christian News Service (CNS) reported.
Unlike legislation, however, resolutions do not carry the force of law but only serve as a statement of the lawmakers' intent.
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The resolution declares that the U.S. Supreme Court overstepped its bounds by offering its opinion on abortion and usurping the authority of the states.
The resolution then states that "every public official in Oklahoma, including but not limited to sheriffs, district attorneys, judges and justices, the attorney general, and the governor, is directed to exercise their authority as appropriate in their respective jurisdictions to stop the murder of innocent unborn children by abortion."
It also asks state courts not to intervene with any efforts by lawmakers to clarify state law to protect the lives of unborn children.
Speaking before the vote, Rep. Chuck Strohm, R-Jenks, the sponsor of the resolution, urged civil magistrates "to exercise their authority as appropriate in their respective jurisdictions to stop the murder of innocent unborn children by abortion," according to Tulsa World.
"What happens when a court—and not just any court, but the highest court in the land—violates the most basic law known to mankind: the right to life?" he asked.
He said that according to the 10th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, "no one—not a doctor, not a father or a mother—has rights that allow [anyone] to murder an unborn child."
"Simply, (the Supreme Court) had no authority to do what they did," he said.
Strohm was referring to the Supreme Court's landmark Roe vs. Wade decision in January 1973 that affirmed the legality of a woman's right to have an abortion.
The case centered on a Texas woman named Norma McCorvey who sought an abortion over an alleged rape. McCorvey later admitted that she had lied, writing in her book "I Am Roe" that she concocted the rape story upon the advice of her feminist counsel to make her case more convincing.
She also denied that she had an abortion, but only placed her child up for adoption.
McCorvey later became a Catholic and a vocal pro-life advocate, even going to court in an effort to overturn the Supreme Court's ruling.
"My decisions were wrong and I am fighting with every breath to change what has occurred," McCorvey said in 2008, as quoted by CNS. She died in February this year.
