Letters: Readers share outrage at overturn of Roe, state's abortion ban
Oklahoma’s 'pro-life' shortcomings are is long and long-neglected
Gov. Kevin Stitt boasts that he is “America’s most pro-life governor.” I am, therefore, waiting for him to cancel the 25 executions the attorney general has requested the courts to schedule. Further, I wonder when Gov. Stitt will forcefully call for a bill abolishing the death penalty in light of his pledge to “sign every pro-life bill that comes across my desk.”
I also await our governor’s call for "pro-life" legislation establishing red-flag protective orders temporarily restricting gun access for people determined to be a danger to self or others; full funding for services to children and dependent adults with developmental disabilities; affordable, high-quality elder-care; expanded residential options for Oklahomans who are severely mentally ill and lack the financial and functional capacity to live independently; widely available, low-barrier housing opportunities to reduce homelessness; comprehensive sex education in public schools; and universal health-care.
The list of Oklahoma’s "pro-life" shortcomings beyond the governor’s embrace is long and long-neglected. I infer that Gov. Stitt is not pro-life. He is anti-abortion — which is to say, pro-reelection in the Bible belt. Let’s call him on it.
— Kevin Acers, Oklahoma City
Maybe churches should start helping the state recover costs?
On June 24, Republican Supreme Court justices and state legislators took for themselves the right to decide what to do about unplanned pregnancies. Before June 24, that right belonged to women. In a just society, rights do not exist without responsibility.
Everyone forced to carry a pregnancy and give birth should be given $50,000 per year for the next 20years by the state. That will not compensate for loss of health, loss of life, the affront to her rights as a citizen, loss of liberty and loss of bodily autonomy. It will only help compensate for unplanned financial burdens.
Oklahoma’s Republicans own the criminalization of safe and legal abortions. They have the majority in both chambers of the Legislature, along with the governorship, so restitution is within their power. They are inspired by churches whose profound love of fertilized eggs has brought us to this point. Self-respecting Christians should not want it known to all that they love the egg and hate the child.
I propose that churches tithe to the state to help recover costs. Nationally, if churches tithed using existing tax tables, the resulting revenues would be billions of dollars a year.
Many of us will work to restore women’s rights, liberty and full citizenship in Oklahoma and in America by rejecting every Republican on the ballot in November.
For now, I challenge Republican churches members, voters, judges and politicians to do the right thing. Be responsible, and for once, clean up after yourselves.
— Sharon Tilbury, Oklahoma City
Speakers need to be accurate as they 'Enrage the Rage'
Women's March for Choice on 6/26 ("Engage the Rage") was widely attended, and the crowd was great fun. But, one speaker was full of mistakes and deeply offensive. She made false assertions that surely alienated long-time reproductive rights activist, including myself. She said that Blacks people were left out by the second wave of feminism. No one has ever claimed feminism did as much as the Civil Rights Movement, but the first Black woman to run for president, Shirley Chisholm, or early NOW Founder Florynce Kennedy, or even Celestine Ware who wrote Women Power: The Movement for Women's Liberation" in 1970 certainly called themselves feminists. They considered themselves to be both Black and feminist. Who is she to say they weren't?
Another aggravating falsehood was when a speaker declared this is not feminism. There is no excuse for such an ignorant statement. It most certainly IS about feminism. Who won the argument in Roe v Wade in the first place? It was self-described feminist Sarah Weddington, who later worked on other feminist issues in the Texas Legislature. A feminist WON Roe v Wade.
It made me wonder, at what point should audience member start yelling back at wrong speakers. I would like equal time at their next rally to rebut the wrong information given at this rally. Also, I would suggest the organizers screen their speakers better to make sure they do not offend long-time pro-choice advocates.
— Lucia Perri, Edmond
Women should make decisions about their own bodies
It is my unalterable conviction that any decision about whatever is developing in a woman's body should be made by that woman. Period.
If the Oklahoma powers that be make it illegal to assist any woman in achieving an abortion, I will be as willing as I am today to assist her in her quest. If I am punished for such a "crime," I will as liable to repeat my offense after any prison term.
I should admit that with my advanced age such a promise is less that heroic.
— Bert Rackett, Oklahoma City
Why I'm not visiting Duncan, Oklahoma, again
My family history traces back to William Duncan and the first settlers of Duncan, Oklahoma. Our family roots were so ingrained, that as my parents first child, they happily named me Duncan. I’ve always had an affinity for the place and on a few occasions while traveling have met other people from Duncan.
As recently as three years ago, I enjoyed a visit to Oklahoma. However now, I can no longer visit again. Oklahoma in now the worst state in America for respecting the rights and beliefs of women. It’s one thing to be a conservative state, but it’s another thing to condemn women to bearing children in cases of incest or even rape. Stunning and sad. And even more so when I read that more than half of Oklahoma residents think the ban is wrong.
I hope common sense prevails eventually and that someday, Oklahoma won’t be seen as the cruelest state in America for women.
— Duncan Stout, Portland, Maine
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Letters: Readers share outrage at overturn of Roe v Wade
