Thread by @TyrekeBakerTBT

Over the weekend hundreds of people gathered at the Oklahoma state Capitol, to listen to several speakers discuss the importance of reproductive freedom. @TheBlackTimesOK @TBTAnna #Opinion #AbortionIsHealthcare

Why are we still discussing equal access to healthcare in Oklahoma, let alone the entire country in the 21st century?
theblacktimes.org/articles/w879l…

In April, Stitt signed SB 612 which legally bans healthcare providers from performing abortions. The consequences for violating the ban is a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison, and a fine of $100,000.

“I know this bill will be challenged immediately by liberal activists from the coast, who always seem to want to come in and dictate, and mandate, and challenge our way of life here in the state of Oklahoma.” - Gov. Stitt

This year Oklahoma lawmakers have made several attempts to ban certain access to healthcare, backed by a promise from Gov. Stitt who vowed to “sign every pro-life piece of legislation in order to defend the lives of unborn children.”

Stitt has proudly told the public he’s protecting our way our life and freedom, but is failing to provide sufficient evidence revealing the millions of Oklahomans who are in favor of banning and criminalizing abortion.

On Sunday, he appeared on Fox News to discuss the abortion bans. He was asked about a report published by The Frontier regarding polling data for public opinion on abortion.

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1525830375624396801

The report cites a 2014 Pew Research Study, which reports “51% of 391 Oklahoma Respondents believed abortion should be legal in all or most cases.” She continued, “so within the last few years your state was pretty evenly split on this issue.”

His response “Well…some of those different facts, or those newspaper that you’re quoting…are not what we find with the people in Oklahoma…so I totally disagree with those numbers.” @GovStitt

Why are we still discussing equal access to healthcare in Oklahoma, let alone the entire country in the 21st century? This topic is not so much about defending life, because the reality is that this country has little compassion for the living.

This country has a dark and neglectful history of making decisions about an individual's body in the name of the law.

On one hand exists a party, who for decades lived by the principle of limited government, and on the other exists a party that lacks consistency to achieve any substantial progress.

They play politics when it's popular.  This conversation only exists because unqualified people with step stools learned that if they bark ‘in the sanctity of life’ long enough, then maybe we wouldn’t notice their desperation for power. Power over the people.

It is the very thing the rights granted by the constitutions are supposed to protect. Actions are like dominos, one leads to something bigger, more dangerous, then history repeats itself, and the cycle continues.

The responsibility also falls on organizers to acknowledge the fight for equal rights does not belong to a single group of people. It is important to create spaces where the issues we discuss represent the people who are affected by them.

Comments from @TBTAnna regarding the Pro-Choice rally last Saturday:

The abortion rally this past Saturday afternoon was heavily White. Black women are 3 times more likely to die during childbirth and they will be the demographic that is most impacted by total abortion bans.

Stitt and many of our state's lawmakers are testing how far over the line they can go, and whether the people will use what they fear most, their voice and vote.