Week of February 13 – 17, 2012

On Wednesday, Feb. 15 the Personhood Bill passed the Oklahoma Senate 34-8, stating that a human fetus or embryo is a “person”, beginning at the point of conception. While the bill is currently being held with a motion to reconsider, it just needs to pass the House and be signed into law by Republican Governor Mary Fallin and would take effect November 1, 2012. This is a dangerous bill with real life consequences that will affect people across the board. Trust Women, along with other organizations, will be at the Take Root Conference Feb 24-25 where personhood along with other Reproductive Justice topics will be discussed. We would love to see you there!

Week of February 6-10, 2012:

Oklahoma Senate Panel Approves Personhood Bill

SB 1433 passed the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services on Monday, February 6, 2012.

The bill states that “Life begins at conception and unborn children have protectable interest in life, health and well-being”. The bill is authored  by Senator Brian Crain (R-Tulsa) and passed 5-2 this past Monday, the first day of legislative session.

Crain stated to the Tulsa World that the bill “would not make women subject to homicide or manslaughter charges for seeking an abortion because abortion is allowed by the U.S. Supreme Court”.

What would SB 1433 actually do? For starters, no person would be able to obtain a legal abortion in Oklahoma if this passes. It would outlaw certain forms of birth control, such as the “morning after” pill (aka Plan B) and intrauterine devices. Crain left the language so vague that it could also outlaw oral contraception and in-vitro fertilization.

Then what is this bill for? Crain says it’s to announce that Oklahoma is a ‘pro-life’ state. Lawmakers know that they cannot seek to outlaw abortion, they have tried before and failed. As Crain said himself, abortion is a right established by the U.S. Supreme Court. The best way to try to outlaw abortion is to attack it from different sides. Right now, personhood is rigor du jour, next year it could be TRAP laws (Targeted Regulations against Abortion Providers). Since there have been eight bills limiting reproductive agency introduced just this session, it’s safe to say that some lawmakers do not value reproductive justice in Oklahoma.

Megan, who is a Trust Women Intern, gathered with supporters at the Oklahoma City capitol for a silent protest on Thursday, February 9, 2012, when the Senate Committee was set to vote on SB 1433.  After an hour an a half, the Senate adjourned without a vote and will reconvene Monday afternoon, February 13, 2012.

Week of January 23-27, 2012:

State Senator Shortey of Oklahoma proposed SB 1418 that would ban the use of aborted fetuses in food. Simply, this is absurdity at its best.

Week of April 4-9, 2011:

HB 1888 has passed the Oklahoma Legislature and is waiting for the signature of the Governor.  This bill would ban abortion during the second trimester of pregnancy regardless of an individual woman’s circumstances and health needs. This is a pre-viability ban.

HB 1970 is currently in Committee, but could quite possibly become law.  This bill would turn back the clock on medical practice, making it a crime to provide safe, legal medical abortion under a protocol that is based on scientific, medical evidence, denying women in Oklahoma access to what is standard medical practice nationwide – and what they and their physician believe is the best abortion procedure for them.

SB 547 remains in Committee but could quite possibly become law.  This bill would remove important exceptions in existing law that currently allow rape and incest victims to obtain insurance coverage for abortion – this bill would actually make it impossible for insurers to offer insurance coverage for abortion in the cases of rape and incest unless the woman bought a separate policy just for abortion before the crime occurred.

HB 1571 remains in Committee but could quite possibly become law.  This bill appears to be an attempt to amend Oklahoma statutes to declare that life begins at fertilization and to consider “persons” from the point of fertilization to have inalienable rights.  The language of this bill is vague, but could be read to affect the availability of abortion, contraception and assisted reproductive technologies, like in-vitro fertilization, in the state of Oklahoma, as well as impacting hundreds, if not thousands, of state laws.

Week of March 13-19, 2011:

• HB 1442 was voted and passed on St. Patrick’s Day with a margin of 86 to 8.  The measure would make it a crime to conduct research and would prohibit buying, selling or transferring an embryo for research; in turn, this legislation would prohibit embryonic stem cell research.

• This legislation would have a huge negative impact to the medical research facilities in the state. TheGreater Oklahoma City Chamberreleased a study last month that showed the bioscience sector contributes $6.7 billion in economic activity to the region, supports 51,000 jobs earning $2.2 billion in employee compensation.  With our economy in recovery mode, why would anyone want to jeopardize jobs and contribute to economic loss because of their political ideology?

• Additionally, receiving it’s first reading this week was HB 1642, which would modify requirements for persons allowed to perform or induce abortions.  Several more anti-choice bills have been referred to committee. For more information, click here.

Week of February 21-25, 2011:

• HB 1888, the 20-week pre-viability abortion ban, has passed out of committee and is slated for a House vote.
• HB 1442, which would make it make it a crime to perform any form of embryonic stem cell research, has passed out of the House Public Health Committee by a narrow 6-5 vote and is headed for a House vote.

Week of February 7-11, 2011:

• Oklahoma lawmakers are monitoring Ohio’s unconstitutional heartbeat legislation for future possible introduction.

Week of January 31-February 4, 2011:

• Here are the summaries of the legislation introduced in Oklahoma concerning women’s welfare and reproductive health care (courtesy of Planned Parenthood of Arkansas and Eastern Oklahoma).

Week of January 17-21, 2011:

• This week, there were 18 pieces of legislation concerning abortion introduced to meet the January 20th legislative filing deadline.  Session begins February 9th.  Currently, we’re going through the text of the legislation to see what measures are being introduced.
• An anti-choice group has proclaimed that Oklahoma has the most restrictive anti-abortion laws.
• In May 2010, a judge block the enforcement of the ultrasound law temporarily, finding in favor of the lawsuit filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights that says the law is unconstitutional.  Oral arguments are scheduled for Friday, Jan. 21, in the motion filed by anti-choice groups seeking to intervene in the lawsuit.  Update: The judge has ruled that the American Victims of Abortion can assist the Oklahoma attorney general’s office in defending the new law,though the judge also rejected similar intervention requests from the Justice Foundation and three Oklahoma women who said they had traumatic experiences involving abortion and wanted to support the ultrasound law.

Week of January 10-14, 2011:

• SB 186 has been introduced and would make any scientific research of embryo, fetus, or fetal parts unlawful.
• The Republican leadership in the state legislatures announce an aggressive platform targeting women’s health and reproductive rights.

Week of February 6-10, 2012:

Oklahoma Senate Panel Approves Personhood Bill

SB 1433 passed the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services on Monday, February 6, 2012.

The bill states that “Life begins at conception and unborn children have protectable interest in life, health and well-being”. The bill is authored  by Senator Brian Crain (R-Tulsa) and passed 5-2 this past Monday, the first day of legislative session.

Crain stated to the Tulsa World that the bill “would not make women subject to homicide or manslaughter charges for seeking an abortion because abortion is allowed by the U.S. Supreme Court”.

What would SB 1433 actually do? For starters, no person would be able to obtain a legal abortion in Oklahoma if this passes. It would outlaw certain forms of birth control, such as the “morning after” pill (aka Plan B) and intrauterine devices. Crain left the language so vague that it could also outlaw oral contraception and in-vitro fertilization.

Then what is this bill for? Crain says it’s to announce that Oklahoma is a ‘pro-life’ state. Lawmakers know that they cannot seek to outlaw abortion, they have tried before and failed. As Crain said himself, abortion is a right established by the U.S. Supreme Court. The best way to try to outlaw abortion is to attack it from different sides. Right now, personhood is rigor du jour, next year it could be TRAP laws (Targeted Regulations against Abortion Providers). Since there have been eight bills limiting reproductive agency introduced just this session, it’s safe to say that some lawmakers do not value reproductive justice in Oklahoma.

Megan, who is a Trust Women Intern, gathered with supporters at the Oklahoma City capitol for a silent protest on Thursday, February 9, 2012, when the Senate Committee was set to vote on SB 1433.  After an hour an a half, the Senate adjourned without a vote and will reconvene Monday afternoon, February 13, 2012.