Dangerous Abortion Restriction Goes to Oklahoma Governor

Similar bill was signed into law in Kansas, as part of broader agenda

New York, NY – A bill targeting one of the most common methods of abortion – which could restrict access to abortion for many women after 13 weeks in pregnancy – is headed to the governor of Oklahoma after being passed by the state legislature. This comes a day after Kansas Governor Brownback signed a similar measure into law.

Oklahoma and Kansas have enacted 47 restrictions on safe, legal abortion since 2011--18 in Oklahoma and 29 in Kansas. Together, these two states enacted nearly 20 percent of all restrictions on safe, legal abortion passed in all 50 states during this time period, according to the Guttmacher Institute. 

Statement from Dr. Vanessa Cullins, Vice President for External Medical Affairs at Planned Parenthood Federation of America:

"All of us who provide health care to women are deeply troubled by this legislation. These bills have no basis in medicine, and they are just part of an extreme agenda by politicians who want to ban abortion completely. This legislation would prevent doctors from providing health care based on what’s best for our patients, which is dangerous and deeply disturbing.  Planned Parenthood will fight to protect our patients’ access to safe medical care, no matter what.”

Additional Background: 

A new poll out yesterday from Vox shows that 87% of Americans want a woman's abortion experience to be informed by medically accurate information.

Since 2011, state legislatures have passed more than 240 restrictions on safe, legal abortion—more restrictions than had passed in the entire previous decade, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

D&E is the most common method of performing abortion in the second trimester and is the safest method for most women. 

A study analyzing 2218 D&E procedures performed at Planned Parenthood health centers found it was the safest method for many women after the first trimester. See Ashlesha Patel et al., “Adequacy and safety of buccal misoprostol for cervical preparation prior to termination of second-trimester pregnancy,” 73 Contraception 420,-430 (2006).

A Cochrane Library review of the literature comparing surgical and medical methods of abortion at or after 13 weeks’ gestation found D&E preferable to other procedures and associated with fewer complications and side effects than other procedures. See PA Lohr et al.,”Surgical Versus Medical Methods for Second Trimester Induced Abortion” (Review), 2008:3, The Cochrane Library (2008).

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