The number of births in the United States increased in 2021 for the first time since 2014, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . Over 3.7 million babies were born in 2021, an increase of about 1% from 2020. The slight increase marks a rebound after births fell 4%…Read More
One of the most important legislative debates underway this year is whether Oklahoma will fund students, not systems or buildings, as embodied by the language of Senate Bill 1647. For us, the answer is simple: Oklahoma government should fund students. This legislation has the power to change the lives of thousands of parents and children…Read More
A controversial sex education bill that has an amendment to regulate school bathrooms is now Oklahoma law. Gov. Kevin Stitt signed Senate Bill 615 into law on Wednesday. The new law, which went into effect upon Stitt’s signature, requires sex education materials used in school counselor-led meetings or classes to be inspected by the student’s parents…Read More
Oklahoma has become the first state in the country to ban nearly all abortions. The state’s governor, Kevin Stitt, signed a bill Wednesday outlawing abortions after conception — making it the strictest anti-abortion law in the US to date. The law makes exceptions in cases of rape and incest or if the mother’s life is…Read More
A bill to create a school-voucher program in Oklahoma failed earlier this year to win passage in the state legislature. Oklahoma is a state where 68 percent of those surveyed favor school choice, and yet this small school-choice bill, which was sponsored by the state senate’s president pro tempore and supported by the governor, was…Read More
In a 6-3 ruling May 23, the Supreme Court said two Arizona death-row inmates could not present new evidence of ineffective counsel they said they received in state trials during their federal appeals. The inmates have argued that their lawyers failed to present evidence that could have exonerated them from death sentences. Justice Clarence Thomas,…Read More
Pope Francis praised a pro-life event in Rome and offered comments defending the dignity of life on Sunday. According to the website for the national Scegliamo la vita (Let’s Choose Life) event, the May 21 gathering intended to affirm the dignity of human life from conception to natural death. Videos and photos on the event’s…Read More
More than 90 cannabis-related bills were filed at the beginning of the session, but as lawmakers wind down their time at the Capitol, only 20 remain. Four bills have been signed by Gov. Kevin Stitt, while others are waiting to be heard on the floor or are working through conference committees. Several of the bills…Read More
A bill aiming to combat human trafficking has been sent to Gov. Kevin Stitt following passage by the Oklahoma House of Representatives on Monday. House Bill 4210 would establish the Human Trafficking Response Unit within the Office of the Attorney General. The unit would create and maintain data related to human trafficking so law enforcement…Read More
The White House condemned a new abortion bill that passed Oklahoma’s Legislature Thursday, calling the bill “extreme,” “absurd” and “ultra MAGA.” The bill, H.B. 4327, would ban all abortions after the moment of conception except in cases of rape, incest, or to save the mother’s life. The bill bans any procedures that “cause the death…Read More
Reports surfaced last week that Justice Samuel Alito’s draft majority opinion that was leaked overturning Roe v. Wade is still the only one circulated inside the Supreme Court, giving great hope to pro-life advocates around the country. The action by states to advance pro-life legislation only further shows the claim that “Roe is settled law”…Read More
A broad decline was already underway in the nation’s public school system as rates of birth and immigration have fallen, particularly in cities. But the coronavirus crisis supercharged that drop in ways that experts say will not easily be reversed. No overriding explanation has emerged yet for the widespread drop-off. But experts point to two…Read More
Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a bill into law on Monday that will make it easier for people with criminal records to become licensed in their chosen field. Senate Bill (SB) 1691 was signed into law by Stitt on Monday, and aims to make it easier for people with criminal history to get licensed in a…Read More
Pope Francis decried the low birth rate in Western countries on Thursday, describing it as an urgent social emergency and a “new poverty.” “It is not immediately perceptible, like other problems that occupy the news, but it is very urgent: fewer and fewer children are being born, and this means impoverishing everyone’s future; Italy, Europe,…Read More
A Democratic-led bill to guarantee abortion access nationwide failed to advance in the Senate Wednesday in a show vote designed to draw sharp political lines ahead of the midterm elections. Vice President Kamala Harris presided over the vote on the Women’s Health Protection Act. It needed 60 votes to advance, but died in a 51…Read More
The image of Lucy yanking away the football from Charlie Brown has been invoked for years as a metaphor for Texas’ relationship with school choice. But is the Lone Star State finally about to connect? On Monday night, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called on the legislature to allow education dollars to follow children to learning…Read More
A former Oklahoma death row inmate and tribal citizen whose case led to a landmark ruling on tribal sovereignty was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison by a federal judge. Patrick Murphy, 53, a citizen of the Muscogee Nation, was originally sentenced to die in McIntosh County for the 1999 killing of George Jacobs. But…Read More
The mother of a Union High School student is standing up for her daughter. She filed a lawsuit against the district, claiming Union Public Schools failed to protect her daughter from repeated bullying. “I don’t want any more attention on my daughter,” the mother told NewsChannel 8, asking to remain anonymous for her daughter’s safety.…Read More
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., will be opposing a Democratic abortion bill when it is up for a procedural vote Wednesday afternoon, stating that it is too broad for his liking. Manchin said that while he would vote for a bill that would legalize abortion on the federal level, the bill before the Senate now “is…Read More