5 Bills Restricting Abortions In Oklahoma Make It Through Committee

A Senate committee met to discuss several abortion bills. The bills are aimed at restricting abortion access in the state. 

Lawmakers heard five bills that surround abortion. Some shrink the amount of time a person has to make the decision to get the procedure. Others remove legal protections from the state constitution. One lawmaker saying he won't stop till abortions are completely banned. 

"The message is that women and people who can become pregnant are not being trusted to make choices about their own healthcare and the course of their lives," said Trust Women Advocacy Director, MyFy Jensen-Fellows.  

Trust Women's clinics brace as Oklahoma lawmakers voted on the abortion bills in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee: SB: 1503, SB: 1552, SB: 1553, SB: 1555, SJR: 37.  

One bill, SB: 1503, is almost a carbon copy of Texas' SB: 8, that bans abortions when a heartbeat is detected. It opens anyone involved in an abortion to lawsuits. 

"Which we know is a point in pregnancy where many people don't know they are pregnant yet," said Jensen-Fellows. She added, "Providers, physicians, it could be friends and family who are offering rides so it's directly targeting this network." 

Texas' bill caused many clinics in Oklahoma and Kansas to see an influx of Texas women looking for care. Monday, the committee approved SB 1553, a bill that bans the procedure 30 days after the first missed period. 

"There is a great range in the length of a person's cycle, how often they have a period at all. It might be 28 days, it could be longer than that," said Jensen-Fellows. 

Two bills aim to alter the state constitution. SB: 1555 is a trigger bill that outlaws abortions in the state if Roe vs. Wade is overturned by the US Supreme court. SJR: 37 removes any constitutional protections to the right to abortions. 

"I see this as having a very long shadow and makes it hard to get back," explained Jensen-Fellows. 

The last bill, SB: 1555 allows the state to enter private contracts with organizations pursuing the Choosing Childbirth Act.. 

All 5 bills have made it out of committee.