INTERPRETIVE CHALLENGES

(commentary)

The U.S. Constitution does not explicitly or implicitly express or recognize the right to terminate a pregnancy/’reproductive rights’ as federal rights, therefore it is a false interpretation that begs the claim that the right to life excludes unborn children/preborn babies/fetuses. Further, it more than guarantees a person’s right to life, and to exclude preborn babies/fetuses from being persons ignores original intent and basic morality from which our nations’ laws are derived. It is necessary to include the U.S. Constitution in the analysis of this state decision as certain federal rights contained within preempt any state laws which violate those federally protected rights.
As for the Oklahoma Constitution, Article II, Sections 2 and 7 are cited as the basis for the interpretation that women have the right to terminate a pregnancy, or in other words- ‘reproductive rights.’ Article II, Section 2 states, “All persons have the inherent right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and the enjoyment of the gains of their own industry” and Section 7 states “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.” As discussed in the previous paragraph, a person’s right to life is explicitly expressed and recognized in the U.S. Constitution, and as it does not exclude preborn babies/fetuses (nor was it common during which time the U.S. Constitution was written to exclude unborn children/preborn babies/fetuses from personhood as well as the violation of basic morality in taking such a life), these two sections of the Oklahoma Constitution cannot be interpreted to exclude unborn children/preborn babies/fetuses, let alone falsely interpret them as to include the right to terminate a pregnancy or ‘reproductive rights.’