Oklahoma Supreme Court stays abortion restriction law News
Oklahoma Supreme Court stays abortion restriction law

The Oklahoma Supreme Court [official website] on Monday blocked an abortion law [materials] that was set to go into effect on November 1. The law, Senate Bill 642, covered four subjects related to abortions: parental consent for minors, tissue preservation, the inspection of clinics and legal liability for abortion providers. The stay is for 30 days [AP report] but may be extended, the court said. Supporters of the bill, which would require abortion providers to take samples of the fetal tissue when an abortion patient is younger than 14 to send to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, said that it was aimed at catching child rapists. The law was challenged by Dr. Larry Burns, who filed a lawsuit [Tulsa World report] challenging the law as unconstitutional. New York based Center for Reproductive Rights CEO Nancy Northup said that women in Oklahoma already faced significant obstacles in seeking a safe and legal abortion, and that “the last thing they need is another measure criminalizing their doctors and pushing essential health care further out of reach.”

Abortion related issues have been a heated topic of discussion for the past several years in the US. Earlier this month the US House of Representatives [official website] approved [JURIST report] the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015, a bill that would cut all federal funding to women’s healthcare provider Planned Parenthood. In August Planned Parenthood filed a complaint [JURIST report] in the US District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, alleging that Alabama Governor Robert Bentley’s termination of Medicaid provider agreements for the facility violates a federal law that requires Medicaid beneficiaries to have a choice in provider for family planning. Also in August the Alaska Superior Court struck down [JURIST report] a state law it says would have unfairly burdened low-income individuals by limiting Medicaid funding for abortions. Earlier that month the US District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee lifted [JURIST report] a temporary restraining order that limited the state in enforcing new abortion laws regarding licensing standards for clinics. In July Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed into law [JURIST report] the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, limiting the ability of a woman to seek an abortion more than 20 weeks into her pregnancy. In June the US Supreme Court granted a motion to stay [JURIST report], allowing more than half of Texas’ 18 abortion clinics to stay open by temporarily blocking a law that would place stringent requirements on clinics requiring the majority of them to close.

THIS DAY @ LAW

38 Santee Sioux hanged by US for rebellion

On December 26, 1862, 38 Santee Sioux men were hanged in a mass execution for their roles in a rebellion against US authorities in Minnesota which left hundreds dead and made refugees of some 40,000 white settlers. Government annuities promised under a treaty with the Sioux had failed to arrive on schedule and credit for purchases was not advanced in the meantime, threatening the tribe with starvation. The Santee Sioux Tribe's members were deported first to South Dakota and ultimately to Nebraska, where they remain today. Learn more about the 1862 Minnesota Sioux Rebellion.

Louis XVI put on trial during French Revolution

On December 26, 1792, Romain de Sèze, a defense attorney for deposed King Louis XVI, presented a defense of his client. The former King was on trial before a French Revolutionary court on thirty-three charges, including treason and other crimes against the state. He was convicted on January 15, 1793 executed by guillotine on the following January 21.