Abortion in the state of Oklahoma

By Jameson Sempey

Women who get an abortion in the state of Oklahoma will be required to answer a 37 question questionnaire, the answers of which will be published on a public Web site by the Oklahoma State Department of Health, effective Nov. 1.

Many with pro-choice views feel this is an invasion of privacy, and an attack on a woman’s right to choose.

"Anti-choice forces will stop at nothing to prevent women from having access to abortion services, including resorting to a cheap legislative trick that's quite clearly unconstitutional," said Jennifer Mondino, staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, in a press release from the center for reproductive rights.

A law suit has been filed by former state representative Wanda Stapleton and Lora Joyce Davis, an Oklahoma resident, according to the release.
Stapleton claims that the law is in violation of the constitution because the Oklahoma constitution requires that a law only addresses one subject at a time, while the law covers four different subjects.

The law would put a ban on sex-selective abortion, require doctors who perform abortions or treat patients who have had abortions to report patient information to the state health department, and it creates new responsibilities for the state health department.

"As taxpayers in this state, we expect our representatives to follow the state constitution, not pick and choose what measures suit them, then pass unconstitutional legislation that shortchanges their constituents by a quarter-of-a-million dollars," Stapleton said in the release.

Those who are pro-life find that these pro-choice individuals don’t understand the law.

“Abortion advocates either don’t understand – or else are intentionally misrepresenting – Oklahoma’s new abortion-reporting law,” said Tony Lauinger, state chairman of Oklahomans For Life in a National Right to Life press release. “It is not true, as alleged, that reports about individual women’s abortions will be posted online, nor will reports about individual abortions contain personal identifying information: no name, no address, no hometown, no county of residence, no patient ID number. To say otherwise is clearly false and misleads the public.”

Stapleton and Davis filed Davis v. W.A. Drew Edmondson as in the Oklahoma County District Court. Anne Zachritz of Oklahoma City and Martha Hardwick of Tulsa are co-counsel, according to the release from the center for reproductive rights.

– Four states – North Dakota, Idaho, Kentucky, Missouri – do not allow private insurers the option to cover non-life threatening abortions under any circumstances. Rhode Island, on the contrary, has passed a permanent enjoinment to prevent such a law from being passed in the state. All four states have public funding for life endangering situations that require abortions, as well as abortions in light of rape and/or incest, but do not publically fund all “medically necessary abortions.”

Abortion Facts

Restricting Abortion Laws

Ban on private insurers covering abortions
Mandated Counseling, Consent, and notice - Texas, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming require both parental consent and notice for a minor to have an abortion performed. Texas, Oklahoma, and Utah are 3 of the 9 states that include information on fetal pain. Texas and Oklahoma are two of six states that include information on a breast cancer link in the counseling prior to an abortion. Utah and Texas are two of seven states that provide negative psychological effects from abortion in the counseling. While Wyoming requires the consent and notice, they do not require counseling before the procedure.

Liberal Abortion Laws

No legal definition – New Jersey and Oregon have no legal definition of a lawful abortion. In fact, Oregon does not define what an unlawful abortion is either. New Jersey defines an unlawful abortion as a partial birth abortion, unless the life of the mother is in danger.

Abortions Performed (2003)

- Abortions induced worldwide – 41.6 Million
- Abortions induced in North America – 1.5 Million
- Asia has the highest number of total abortions induced, but per 1,000 women aged 15-44 the rate of abortions induced is 29. Africa’s rate is also 29; Europe’s rate is 28; Latin America’s is the highest at 31; North America’s is 21; and Oceania’s rate is 17.
- In 2003, there were approximately nine million abortions induced.
- Between 1995 and 2003, the number of abortions induced decreased by approximately 4 million.
- Eastern Europe has the highest abortion rate worldwide, and in 2003 the rate of abortions was higher than the rate of births (105 abortions to 100 births).
- According to Guttmacher Institute, abortion law does not affect the amount of abortions induced. Abortion is illegal in many parts of Africa, but the rate of abortion per 1,000 women age 15-44 is 29. The lowest rates are in Northern and Western Europe, where there are not many restrictions on the circumstances upon which abortions can be performed.

**Information from lawfind.com and the Guttmacher Institute