OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma House Public Health Committee passed a bill Wednesday that its own author said needs major work before it is brought to a vote before the full House chamber.
House Bill 3216, also known at the Oklahoma Right To Human Life Act, would overhaul how the state handles the few legal abortions it allows, creates a database within the Oklahoma State Department of Health that would track which women have abortions and how many they’ve had, would require doctors to submit written justification of an abortion under oath, moves some contraceptives currently available over the counter to needing physician approval, and restricts certain uses of intrauterine devices (IUDs).
“What this bill is attempting to do is maintain the bills the legislature has overwhelmingly passed over the past couple of years that got overturned by the Oklahoma Supreme Court by using their language,” said Moore Republican Kevin West who authored the bill.
Last summer, the Oklahoma State Supreme Court ruled that the Oklahoma State Constitution gives the right to a woman to have an abortion to save her life in an emergency situation, but it left open when and how that emergency situation would be declared. West’s bill defines what would qualify as an emergency situation and how a doctor would legally be able to go about it, but it also dives into multiple other issues surrounding pregnancy and abortion.