Covenant Marriage
(April 4, 2002) HB 2641, the Covenant Marriage bill, has now passed state House and Senate committees. The bill, by Rep. Raymond Vaughn, R-Edmond, and Sen. Owen Laughlin, R-Woodward, can now be considered by the full Senate at any time. Covenant marriage would create a new, more family-friendly form of marriage in the Sooner State. If it becomes law (it has already been strongly endorsed by the House of Representatives and Gov. Frank Keating), engaged couples who choose Covenant Marriage would receive premarital counseling before marriage and a presumption for counseling would exist before any divorce. Divorce would still be allowed in cases of adultery, abuse, fraud, or abandonment. But easy divorce on grounds of incompatibility would no longer be allowed. Couples choosing regular marriage, however, could still be subject to the state's no-fault system.

In Washington, D.C., and Elsewhere:
Physician-Assisted Suicide
(April 17, 2002) Today, a federal judge in Oregon is expected to issue a ruling on the constitutionality of Oregon's physician-assisted suicide law. Several years ago, Oregon-through passage of a so-called "right to die" initiative passed by voters-became the first U.S. state to give legal approval to the right of Oregon physicians to help their terminally-ill patients commit suicide. A subsequent recall election unfortunately substantiated the existing Oregon law. The new law then went into effect, aided by the inaction of former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno. As a result of inaction by the attorney general, federal lawmakers, led by U.S. Senator Don Nickles, subsequently passed a law that prevents the use of federally regulated narcotics to kill people. Because of this new federal law, further implementation of the Oregon statute was stalled, pending review by a federal judge on the overall constitutionality of Oregon's statute.

Supreme Court Says Virtual Porn Law Unconstitutional
(April 16, 2002) The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 7-2, decision, decided that the Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996 is unconstitutional. The law had been passed by Congress to help stop the spread of child pornography, particularly, on the Internet where both real and computer-generated images of children engaged in sexual activity abound. But Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the Court, said the government, in its zeal to shutdown child porn, had drawn new overly broad guidelines that were inconsistent with prior Court precedent on obscenity. The Court also said the 1996 law had provided no distinction between actual and virtual child pornography and that the government had not specified the real harm done to actual children as a result of virtual porn. Only Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justice Antonin Scalia disagreed fully with the opinion of the majority. Justice Clarence Thomas agreed with the majority opinion for other reasons. He hinted that a ban on virtual porn might be constitutional if the government had only cited a case in which a defendant had been acquitted of child porn charges, based on a defense that the pornographic images were computer-generated. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor agreed in part and disagreed in part with the majority's opinion.

Human Cloning Ban
(April 10, 2002) President George W. Bush has called on the U.S. Senate to pass a total ban on all human cloning. Pro-life and pro-family activists are pleased with the President's decision to endorse S. 1899, a bill co-authored by Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, and Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-Louisiana. In mid-April, about 20 senators had yet to make up their minds about this legislation. The remainder of the Senate was evenly split: 40 votes for a total cloning ban and 40 votes in favor of allowing at least some forms of human cloning. Oklahoma's two senators, Sen. Don Nickles and Sen. Jim Inhofe, support the total human cloning ban proposal that has been endorsed by President Bush.

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