SAM SEDER: It's been quite a week for conservative attacks on the rights of women.
Yesterday, The New York Times noted that not a single Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted for a bipartisan-crafted reauthorization of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act. This is an act formulated to combat domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking.
And the week has been dominated by conservative demands — under the fig leaf of religious liberty — that women be denied access to contraceptive health insurance coverage. Both attacks on women's rights were fronted, unsurprisingly, by conservative men waving a banner of so-called moral values. So it should come as little surprise that it was a man, state senator Brian Crain of Tulsa, who introduced a bill in the Oklahoma Senate to define a fertilized egg as a person and a citizen, essentially launching a frontal attack on a woman's right to have autonomy over her own body.
What is surprising is the tact our next guest took in highlighting the absurdity of the proposed law.
Let's welcome to the program State Senator Constance Johnson of Oklahoma City, representing Oklahoma's 48th Senate district. Welcome, Senator.
CONSTANCE JOHNSON: Thank you so much. It's a pleasure to be here.
SEDER: Now, you offered an Amendment to SB-1433, the so-called "Personhood" bill. Tell us what that amendment was — tell us what it was called and why you offered it.
JOHNSON: The amendment I offered stated that any action in which a man ejaculates into any other vessel other than a woman would be deemed illegal under the "Personhood" bill as it was proposed in committee. And, as you stated, it was to draw attention to the absurdity of the trends in Oklahoma towards continuing to place restrictions on women's rights to safe and affordable reproductive healthcare.
SEDER: All right. So, obviously — and speaking for no man in particular — you offered this amendment as satire. Tell me how your constituents in Oklahoma responded to this?
JOHNSON: The — the — the response has been overwhelmingly positive. People are amused. They are celebrating. They are sending me thanks. I'm getting thanks from all over the country, from overseas, for standing up and being willing to speak out against, again, a trend in Oklahoma that would limit women's rights when it comes to reproductive health choices.
SEDER: Yeah, I have to congratulate you on this. It really is a — it really does sort of lift the veil on just how ridiculous, and how this amendment — and this "Personhood" amendment is just the latest in a long line of attacks on women's reproductive rights in Oklahoma, isn't it?
JOHNSON: Exactly.
SEDER: Tell me how else your state is infringing on those rights?
JOHNSON: We've, in the past six years since I've been serving in the Senate — and I've been in the legislature for 31 years — we've passed at least eight anti-abortion bills in Oklahoma. And now, given the Republican majority, which is a first for our state, we are seeing more and more.
And this "Personhood" bill, to me, represented the absolute — absolute most absurd proposal that I've seen to date. And, it's an outrage. I'm outraged. And so, when we have desperate measures we have to take desperate steps. And it was humorous, but at the same time, it was as serious as a heart attack. Oklahoma has bigger eggs to fry.
SEDER: You're good. So, let me ask you this, all right? So, based upon the conservative rhetoric about limited government, how do you square this attempt — when they seem so hell-bent on having government legislate control over women's bodies?
JOHNSON: And that's what I found equally amusing, is that here we have a party that is known for promoting less government intrusion — and this is the deepest intrusion into a family, not only a woman, but a family's person life. This particular bill could affect families who are trying to get pregnant via intro vitro — in vitro fertilization. It could affect a woman who has a miscarriage. It could affect someone who is on birth control.
So, instead of just totally looking at the woman's perspective and aspects of this, we wanted to also let people know that it takes two, and that men have a role in it as well. That sperm is just as sacred as an egg is. When those two come together and form an embryo, we're saying that's not necessarily when life begins. So, this is — this is an attempt to balance the scales in Oklahoma.
SEDER: And, just quickly — what happens next? Do you think this is actually going to get passed in your state?
JOHNSON: Hopefully, because of the focuses being placed on this — not only in our state, but worldwide — we will get advocates. We will get men, women — our state medical association has come out against it. We will get folks calling their legislators, because I believe that is the way to defeat it.
As I said, the Republicans are in the majority, and this is on their agenda, as it has been for the last few years, they can pass anything they want. It's only when the people call and let them know that this is enough, we will not tolerate this level of intrusion into our private lives.
SEDER: State Senator Constance Johnson, thank you so much for your time tonight.
JOHNSON: Thank you very much.
