Reproductive Rights in Oklahoma

There is no exception to this trend in Oklahoma, where a women's right to choose is under constant attack:

• As of 2000, 96 percent of Oklahoma counties had no abortion provider; 56 percent of Oklahoma women lived in these counties.

• Oklahoma did not repeal its abortion ban after the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion nationwide; it only amended the penalty clause. Though unconstitutional and unenforceable, the state's ban makes anyone who advises, prescribes, or performs an abortion guilty of a felony unless the procedure is necessary to save a woman's life. The same law also penalizes a woman who has had an abortion not "necessary to preserve her life" with a prison sentence as long as one year, a $1,000 fine, or both.

• Oklahoma mandates a 24-hour delay from the time a woman talks to an abortion provider and makes an appointment to the time she can get the abortion. During that delay, the doctor must offer biased counseling about the procedure and provide the woman with information on the physical characteristics of the fetus.

• Only in-state-licensed physicians may perform abortions.

• Individuals and private hospitals may refuse to perform abortions or abortion aftercare, except emergency aftercare necessary to preserve the woman's life.

• For women under 18, one parent must provide written notice for an abortion, even if the pregnancy is the result of child abuse or rape.

• Oklahoma recently passed Bill 1742, which, among other things, increases funding for so-called "abortion-alternative" programs and offers women ultrasound so they can see the fetus prior to abortion.

• Unlike several other states, Oklahoma does not require insurers to cover prescription contraception to the same extent and on the same basis as they do other drugs.

Ongoing Challenges for Providers

For an abortion provider in Oklahoma, staying up-to-date on new codes, laws, and regulations can be a full-time job. One minor oversight on a regulation may be interpreted as breaking the law, and a clinic's license is under constant threat of being revoked. "Joan," who requested that her name be changed to protect her privacy, is an employee at a clinic that provides abortion (not affiliated with Planned Parenthood) in Norman, OK. "The state has some pretty graphic catalogues [about the fetus] that the patient [must be given the option] to receive," she says. "We received those [catalogues] by the cart-load from the state."

"Sheila," who also requested that her name be changed, is an employee at Reproductive Services in Tulsa, the only abortion provider in a city with almost 400,000 residents. She agrees that the catalogues are biased toward anti-choice ideology. In addition to information on agencies that will offer help through childbirth, which may include anti-choice "crisis pregnancy centers," the state-sponsored catalogue must use pictures to describe the physical characteristics of the fetus at two-week gestational increments.

Clinics mailed the catalogues to women who did not live near the facilities and made appointments on the phone. Those mailings stopped when it became clear that the catalogues had major errors. For example, the catalogue said that after 12 weeks of pregnancy, an abortion must be performed in a hospital setting, which is false. Subsequently, the state asked abortion providers to temporarily stop mailing the catalogues.

In addition to catalogues, clinics must mail letters to parents or guardians of women under 18 to obtain written notice for abortion. These mailings are time consuming and tedious, and, with the cost of postage, they are also expensive. "Yesterday, four o'clock was coming and I needed to leave the office and get to the post office ...so that it could get to the patient within 48 hours," says Joan.

Sheila agrees that the restrictions are created to make it more difficult for women seeking abortion to obtain the procedure. The mandatory 24-hour waiting period, she says "causes women to be further along, which can cost them more money," because the cost of an abortion is affected by the length of pregnancy. "It causes delays in their ability to get to the clinic," she adds, which may be too far to return to for a second trip. "By the time the women get to a clinic [to schedule an abortion], they've already thought this through."

Despite these regulations, Oklahoma abortion providers are working hard to continue to provide comprehensive reproductive health care services. Most are the only clinic in their areas, and women seeking abortion services need them to be there. "There is a yearly licensing committee that comes in with a fine-toothed comb," says Joan. Until laws change, there is little providers can do but try to comply. "If they give me a hoop, I jump through it."

Looking to the Future

South Dakota's recently passed abortion ban was a silver lining on Oklahoma's anti-choice cloud. "The publicity from the South Dakota ban has given Planned Parenthood a lot of support," says Keri Parks, director of external affairs at Planned Parenthood of Central Oklahoma. Along with South Dakota, Oklahoma was one of 11 states that introduced a new abortion ban this year. "When we e-mail out the language of the bill, it's like a wake-up call," says Parks. "Before we know it, we have all kinds of people making phone calls." In Oklahoma's case, the legislative session ended without the ban moving forward.

Planned Parenthood used this newfound support to try to convince Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry (D) to veto Senate Bill 1742, which passed the state Senate on May 18. "The governor, for the most part, supports us," said Tommy Chesbro, vice president of education and advocacy at Planned Parenthood of Arkansas and Eastern Oklahoma, who remained hopeful that the governor might veto the bill. Supporters of Planned Parenthood and its coalition partners wrote letters to try to persuade him. Unfortunately, they were dealt a blow on May 23 when Gov. Henry signed the bill into law.

Yet pro-choice activists in Oklahoma remain undeterred. Currently in the works is "Prevention First," a bill that pushes contraceptive education and increases access to family planning services. "We're really trying to push prevention," says Parks. "Both sides should promote contraception. Hopefully we can have all sides realize that we want to eliminate the need for abortion, so a woman doesn't need to make that choice. We're giving it our best shot."

© 2006 Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. All rights reserved.