I should have expected the Hobby Lobby decision, given the record of the Roberts court, but it still made we wonder, yet again, if people are paying attention to what we are becoming — or more accurately, what we have become. Because Oklahoma’s Green family, which owns the company, objects on religious grounds to the […]
personhood
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Mr. Popular
Credit: Brad Gregg On Reynolds’ newly launched website, shannonforcongress.com, he appears to accuse Shannon of everything short of stealing candy from a baby. The Oklahoma City Republican suggests Shannon took a pair of illegal corporate campaign contributions, has a sorry legislative track record and even has played fast and loose with his claim of being […]
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Bills of goods
Credit: Brad Gregg We’re talking about the Oklahoma legislative session. Each year, bills are filed that, in the kindest of terms, could best be described as “paste-eaters.” Last year’s winner, hands down, was a proposal to ban the use of fetuses in food. It never made it to a vote, so be extra cautious […]
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Democrats step up
For some time now, one narrative has been that the Democrats here have been splintered by differences and lacked a central message that resonated with voters. No one can deny that after the Republican statewide sweep in 2010, things looked particularly bleak for progressives. But that was before the 2012 legislative session, when progressives rallied […]
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Fetus fetish
Credit: Brad Gregg That includes a measure requiring that women get an ultrasound before an abortion and have the images described to them. That bill was struck down as unconstitutional, but that ruling is being appealed by state Attorney General Scott Pruitt. “Every year, we look to Oklahoma to see what unfortunate, harmful thing they […]
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Women fared well in legislation
Although the topic of reproductive rights came up across the national political scene and appeared to take center stage in Oklahoma by way of the proposed personhood bill, there was much more that happened at the state Capitol worth sharing. For one, House Bill 2396, co-authored by Rep. Wade Rousselot, D-Wagoner, and Sen. Kim David, […]
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Putting the ‘eff’ in ‘friendly skies’
Brad Gregg According to RH Reality Check, a website dedicated to reproductive and sexual health news, American Airlines recently kicked the Tulsan off a flight because of her T-shirt. No, it wasn’t one of those Warpaint ones that spurred so many death threats. Instead, it read, “If I wanted the government in my womb, I’d […]
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Funny people
Brad Gregg After President Obama voiced support for gay marriage, the Oklahoma Senate wasted little time passing what Tim Matheson in Animal House would have termed “a really futile and stupid gesture.” A resolution authored by Sen. Clark Jolley, R-Edmond, and overwhelmingly passed by the Senate on May 14 reaffirmed that the Senate supports marriage […]
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Ill-conceived
Brad Gregg House Speaker Kris Steele said April 19 that the body would not hear Senate Bill 1433, which would proclaim that embryos have all the same rights as folks not encased in a womb. The bill is dead now that the House Republican Caucus voted to pull out the legislative equivalent of a vacuum […]
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Politics of satire
Kurt Hochenauer Democratic state Sens. Constance Johnson of Oklahoma City, Judy Eason McIntyre of Tulsa and Jim Wilson of Tahlequah are responding to the GOP assault on women’s reproductive rights here and elsewhere this year with satire and humor. Their pointed barbs and actions have an obvious theme in common: Reproduction involves a man as […]