The deluge of pro-life legislation in Oklahoma has continued after the state Senate on Tuesday voted to pass a controversial abortion reporting law, and sent it on to the governor’s desk.
The Senate voted 32-11 to approve House Bill 3284, known as the “Statistical Abortion Reporting Act,” which had already been approved by the House in an overwhelming 88-8 vote.
HB 3284 mandates the reporting of all abortions performed in Oklahoma, the reasons abortions are sought, and the complications that result.
The passage of the bill marks the seventh abortion-related, and pro-life leaning piece of legislation passed in Oklahoma this year. Others have included a bill protecting the conscience rights of health care workers, another mandating that all mothers receive an ultrasound within an hour of an abortion, and another outlawing sex-selective abortion.
Tony Lauinger, the chairman of Oklahomans for Life, said that HB 3284 “will help protect the health of women by providing for reporting of complications and it will help identify reasons that women have abortions which will help make it possible to address underlying problems,” according to Tulsa World.
Oklahomans for Life has also said that “The reporting of complications will allow an assessment of the untested claim that abortion is ‘safe.’”
The abortion reporting provisions had been passed previously in an abortion-related omnibus bill that was later struck down by the state Supreme Court for violating the single-issue rule. That bill was then split up into a series of bills, all of which have now passed the legislature.
But while HB 3284 has passed both chambers of the state legislature, it is still not home free. Gov. Brad Henry has already vetoed pro-life legislation this year, although his vetoes were later overridden by the legislature.
The streak of pro-life legislation in Oklahoma is not yet over. Legislators are still considering HB 3290, prompted by the passage of the abortion-funding federal health care law, which would prohibit health plans offered through the health insurance exchange in Oklahoma from including coverage for elective abortions.
