An Oklahoma Senate committee superior two payments Thursday that will make clear what’s (and is not) a authorized abortion in Oklahoma.
One was launched to make clear the Legislature’s intent when it comes to medical procedures that terminate being pregnant. The different stipulates that Oklahoma’s abortion laws should not restrict entry to contraception medication.
“We’re trying to establish uniformity and clarity because some of these statutes have been passed over many years, from 1910 all the way to 2022,” Sen. Julie Daniels, R-Bartlesville, stated throughout a gathering of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.
After Roe v. Wade was overturned final 12 months, abortion turned unlawful in Oklahoma. State lawmakers had ready for that day by adopting what’s generally known as a “trigger,” which criminalized abortion if the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe.
Over the years main up to the courtroom’s ruling, Oklahoma politicians enacted quite a few different laws to restrict or outright ban abortion, main to a patchwork of regulation that some medical doctors stated is complicated and generally contradictory.
In August, a regulation went into impact that carried harsher legal penalties for medical doctors or others who carry out or assist carry out abortions. Another invoice signed final 12 months successfully carried out a near-total abortion ban by permitting personal residents to sue anybody who “aids or abets” a girl looking for an abortion.
Daniels stated she filed Senate Bill 834 to make Oklahoma’s “pro-life” laws extra organized and extra constant.
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Abortion ban exceptions
According to Daniels’ invoice, these medical therapies and procedures wouldn’t be thought of an unlawful abortion:
- Terminating a being pregnant that’s the results of a rape or sexual assault so long as the crime was reported to regulation enforcement.
- Terminating the being pregnant of a minor that’s the results of incest so long as the crime was reported to regulation enforcement.
- The prescription and use of contraception, however solely whether it is administered earlier than medical exams verify being pregnant.
- In vitro fertilization and fertility remedy.
- Termination of a being pregnant if the mom faces demise or “serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function.”
- Procedures after a miscarriage.
- Removal of an ectopic being pregnant.
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During presentation of the invoice, Democratic Sen. Carri Hicks, of Oklahoma City, targeted on the requirement that rape victims should report the crime earlier than receiving medical care to terminate a being pregnant.
“Are we saying that we don’t trust women who are accessing medical treatment because they’ve been raped or a victim of incest?” Hicks requested.
Daniels replied that analysis reveals that fewer than 3% of abortions are the results of rape or to save the mom’s life.
“We’re not talking about a large number, and in fact (it) probably would be almost never used,” Daniels stated.
Senate Bill 368, which additionally superior from committee, additional makes an attempt to make clear that Oklahoma’s abortion laws shouldn’t be construed to prohibit, prohibit, restrict or in any other case have an effect on using contraceptive medication or surgical procedures. Its creator is state Sen. Jessica Garvin, R-Duncan.
Both payments are actually eligible for a listening to on the Senate flooring.
More:After banning abortion in Oklahoma, Republican lawmakers come again with exceptions
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