Protestors Call For More Restrictions On Abortions In Oklahoma At State Capitol

Lawmakers are back at the Capitol Tuesday for day two of the 2023 legislative session. Protesters went back for day two as well; but that group hopes to put more restrictions on abortions in Oklahoma.

The group of protesters said they want to go further than the pro-life movement, and they call themselves abolitionists.  

"Abortion is alive and well in Oklahoma. Roe is dead but abortion is not," protest organizer with Free the States, James Silberman, explained.

James said he and other abolitionists realized the abortion bans never stopped people from getting the procedure, it just forced them underground.  

"It is still going on. It's not in the abortion clinics, it's happening in the comfort of their own homes," James said. He added, "you can order pills to Oklahoma, and it's happening."

Self administered abortions are up in Oklahoma. The Journal of American Medical Association published a study in November that said Oklahoma is one of five states with the biggest jump in requests for abortion pills online. The rate of weekly requests per capita more than tripled compared to before Roe V Wade was overturned.

Abolitionists like James said they want not only to put a stop to it; they want to be able to charge the pregnant person who took the pills with murder.

"We believe it is just for preborn children to be equal under law, and we believe that penalties life in prison or capital punishment are just penalties," James explained.

The supporters went to the Capitol to talk with other lawmakers before the amendment they support, SB 402, hits the floor.  

Current abortion bans extend to everyone involved but the pregnant person, who right now, can't be charged criminally or sued civilly.  

It's also currently illegal to take the abortion pills, mifepristone and misoprostol, without a doctor present:

63 Okl. St. § 1-7331263 Okl. St. § 1-733 (entitled “Self-Induced Abortions”) provides as follows: No woman shall perform or induce an abortion upon herself except under the supervision of a duly licensed physician. Any physician who supervises a woman in performing or inducing an abortion upon herself shall fulfill all the requirements of this article which apply to a physician performing or inducing an abortion.

At the end of 2022, a group of lawmakers asked then Attorney General John O'Connor to weigh in with an official legal opinion on what the pregnant person could be charged with, specifically murder.

This amendment, SB 402, or the Prenatal Equal Protection Act strikes any part of the current law that protects the pregnant person from prosecution. Those who support the addition, like Naomi Jones, said the state legislation has Christian roots.

"Right now, laws do not protect babies before they're born the same as after they're born. The same laws that protect me right now," Naomi said.  

She added, "I believe that this law lines up with the bible and the bible is our standard for truth."

Senate Bill 402 is expected to be heard Wednesday.

SB 402

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