Push For State Question 828 On Abortion Stalls

On Halloween, a grass roots group submitted a ballot initiative that aims to re-legalize abortion and protect the right in the state constitution.  

The group got through the first hurdle two days ago but decided to stop the effort.  

That ballot question, SQ 828, got the green light to start the collection of the needed 177,000 signatures, but that green light came before the group behind the effort was ready to hit the gas.

"Voters were approving it all over the country and I figured that we could do it too," one of State Question 828's authors, Roger Coody-Rosamond, said.

After the laws to outlaw abortion started to roll in, Roger said he started to take steps to restore the right and try to add it to the state constitution.  

He and other authors put the pen to paper this fall and filed SQ 828 to the Oklahoma Secretary of State on Halloween.  

The question then entered into a 10-day protest period.

"Going into the challenge period is a little nerve wracking. You're checking it every day to see if anybody filed any challenges that day," Roger explained.  

Any Oklahoman can raise an issue with a ballot question, but SQ 828's 10 days came and went, and things started to move even faster.

"First I expected there to be challenges and then I expected the secretary of state to take the full 50 days that he had so instead he did it right ahead of the holidays," Roger said.

Instead, Roger got the go-ahead to start the 177,000-signature collection Wednesday. They had 90 days to do it but decided to put the pens down for now.

"I mean that's a huge number you know, and you can only get ten signatures per sheet." Roger continued, "because we print the petitions ourselves and the signature sheet and for the amount that we needed the printing alone was going to be thousands of dollars."

Roger said the pause is so they can regroup and try to find financial backing. He also hopes when they start to pound the pavement for those signatures, it'll be in the summer.

"The days are longer, there's not so many holidays and it's warmer," Roger said.

Roger said they hope to start working on another ballot question and re-start the process after the new year.