Oklahoma Legislators Discriminate Against Animal Activists
Even if I might have personal disagreements with the methodology of an animal rights organization, I can recognize a bigger problem that’s beyond my own philosophy when I see one. Yesterday, the Humane Society of the United States announced a repulsive piece of legislation that has passed through the Oklahoma House of Representatives in an almost two-to-one vote. The bill proposed throwing the first amendment rights of the animal rights movement out the window, by preventing animal rights organizations from soliciting citizens for donations that might go towards the investigation of animal agriculture.
March 2, 2016 | Source: StateImpact, National Public Radio | by Logan Layden
Will Oklahoma be more like Missouri or North Dakota?
In Missouri, Right-to-farm — a constitutional amendment that broadly protects the agricultural industry from future laws and regulations — was a contentious fight that pitted farmer against farmer and forced a recount of the statewide vote. But in North Dakota, Right-to-Farm passed by a 2-to-1 margin.
Early indications in Oklahoma seem to show a big battle brewing. Rep. Jason Dunnington, D-Oklahoma City, two private citizens, and the water advocacy group Save the Illinois River filed a lawsuit March 1 challenging the constitutionality of the state question before it even gets to a vote of the people in November.
In a press release, the coalition bringing the suit says State Question 777 would equate farming and ranching practices to fundamental rights like freedom of speech and religion, and allow “Big Ag” to run rampant.
“State Question 777 amounts to a massive giveaway to corporate agriculture in a truly unprecedented way,” Save the Illinois River President Denise Deason-Toyne says in the release. “Oklahomans have a right to clean water, clean air, and food safety. This ‘Right to Harm‘ amendment strips them of those rights in favor of an industry that cares on about its bottom line.”
StateImpact has reported about how right-to-farm is really a fight between the Humane Society of the United States, which pushes for stronger animal welfare laws, and Farm Bureaus across the country, which push against those kinds of laws. Oklahoma is just the latest battleground.
The right-to-farm amendment is also being opposed by the Oklahoma Conference of Churches, the Oklahoma chapter of the Humane Society of the U.S., and the Oklahoma Stewardship Council, where former Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson serves as chairman.
“The world of industrial agriculture is changing with chemical additives to feed, growth hormones and genetic modifications,” Edmondson said in a statement announcing his opposition to SQ 777 in November 2015. “I can understand why they want to be free from scrutiny and regulation, but I cannot understand why we should let them.”