BarryBobPosthole
02-26-2014, 08:06 AM
I swear. The part about putting people to death in Canada would be funny if it didn't come out of an elected official's mouth.
BKB
OKLAHOMA CITY —- A bill making the destruction of human embryos illegal passed the House of Representatives on Tuesday despite concerns that it would discourage scientific research and create problems for fertility clinics and their clients.
House Bill 2070 applies only to human embryos "outside the female body" and appears to be aimed at embryonic stem cell research.
However, the bill's author, Rep. Dan Fisher, R-El Reno, said it would also outlaw the disposal of surplus embryos used for in vitro fertilization.
HB 2070 is similar to bills associated with the idea that life — or "personhood" — begins at conception. Those bills have in the past caused considerable controversy in the Legislature. Fisher's bill was introduced last session but was never heard in committee.
On Tuesday, Rep. Doug Cox, R-Grove, was the only member to speak against the measure, saying that while it may be well-intentioned, it was "closing the door" on some forms of medical research and would complicate in vitro fertilization.
"I have respect for what you're trying to do, but this goes overboard," Cox said.
Fisher said the "real question is whether we value life. ... I believe Oklahoma should go down as opposed to the intentional destruction of embryos. If you believe life begins at conception, you are for this bill."
The bill would outlaw embryonic stem cell research that results in the destruction of embryos. No such research is currently conducted in Oklahoma.
Violation of the law would be a felony punishable by a minimum $100,000 fine and one year in prison.
Affordable Care Act: Two almost identical measures that would criminalize some activities related to the federal Affordable Care Act had opposite fates.
HB 2421, by Rep. Mike Ritze, R-Broken Arrow, was voted down in the House Public Health Committee, while House Joint Resolution 1084, a proposed constitutional amendment with the same objective, passed the States Rights Committee 6-1.
The two measures would make it illegal for any state employee to assist in the implementation of the ACA and would authorize the state attorney general to file suit on behalf of individuals who believe they have been damaged by the law.
Ritze said that was to protect Oklahomans in case "they're forced to have an abortion or forced to be put to death as they are in Canada with their socialized medicine."
Some committee members said the bill would seem to invalidate insurance policies bought through the federal health-care exchange.
HJR 1084, by Rep. Lewis Moore, R-Arcadia, has much the same language but managed to advance. Moore also managed to get through a bill that had been "shucked" and reworked as the "State Sovereignty Act."
Under this measure, all federal taxes from Oklahomans would be remitted to the Oklahoma Tax Commission instead of to the Internal Revenue Service.
The state would then withhold that money if the federal government tried to enforce "mandates, rules, regulations, executive orders or legislation" that "the Legislature, Governor, Speaker of the House of Representatives and President Pro Tempore of the Senate ... deems to be unconstitutional."
OETA: The House voted 57-34 on Tuesday, with 51 votes needed for passage, to extend authorization for the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority another six years. Funding the OETA has been under attack in the House for several years.
BKB
OKLAHOMA CITY —- A bill making the destruction of human embryos illegal passed the House of Representatives on Tuesday despite concerns that it would discourage scientific research and create problems for fertility clinics and their clients.
House Bill 2070 applies only to human embryos "outside the female body" and appears to be aimed at embryonic stem cell research.
However, the bill's author, Rep. Dan Fisher, R-El Reno, said it would also outlaw the disposal of surplus embryos used for in vitro fertilization.
HB 2070 is similar to bills associated with the idea that life — or "personhood" — begins at conception. Those bills have in the past caused considerable controversy in the Legislature. Fisher's bill was introduced last session but was never heard in committee.
On Tuesday, Rep. Doug Cox, R-Grove, was the only member to speak against the measure, saying that while it may be well-intentioned, it was "closing the door" on some forms of medical research and would complicate in vitro fertilization.
"I have respect for what you're trying to do, but this goes overboard," Cox said.
Fisher said the "real question is whether we value life. ... I believe Oklahoma should go down as opposed to the intentional destruction of embryos. If you believe life begins at conception, you are for this bill."
The bill would outlaw embryonic stem cell research that results in the destruction of embryos. No such research is currently conducted in Oklahoma.
Violation of the law would be a felony punishable by a minimum $100,000 fine and one year in prison.
Affordable Care Act: Two almost identical measures that would criminalize some activities related to the federal Affordable Care Act had opposite fates.
HB 2421, by Rep. Mike Ritze, R-Broken Arrow, was voted down in the House Public Health Committee, while House Joint Resolution 1084, a proposed constitutional amendment with the same objective, passed the States Rights Committee 6-1.
The two measures would make it illegal for any state employee to assist in the implementation of the ACA and would authorize the state attorney general to file suit on behalf of individuals who believe they have been damaged by the law.
Ritze said that was to protect Oklahomans in case "they're forced to have an abortion or forced to be put to death as they are in Canada with their socialized medicine."
Some committee members said the bill would seem to invalidate insurance policies bought through the federal health-care exchange.
HJR 1084, by Rep. Lewis Moore, R-Arcadia, has much the same language but managed to advance. Moore also managed to get through a bill that had been "shucked" and reworked as the "State Sovereignty Act."
Under this measure, all federal taxes from Oklahomans would be remitted to the Oklahoma Tax Commission instead of to the Internal Revenue Service.
The state would then withhold that money if the federal government tried to enforce "mandates, rules, regulations, executive orders or legislation" that "the Legislature, Governor, Speaker of the House of Representatives and President Pro Tempore of the Senate ... deems to be unconstitutional."
OETA: The House voted 57-34 on Tuesday, with 51 votes needed for passage, to extend authorization for the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority another six years. Funding the OETA has been under attack in the House for several years.