Oklahoma Lawmakers Pass Abortion Info Bill, Unborn Victims Measure

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Feb 12, 2005   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Oklahoma Lawmakers Pass Abortion Info Bill, Unborn Victims Measure Email this article
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
February 12, 2005

Oklahoma City, OK (LifeNews.com) — Oklahoma lawmakers in a state House committee have passed a bill that would provide more accurate information to women considering an abortion and another measure that charges criminals with two crimes when they attack a pregnant woman and kill or injure her unborn child.

The abortion information bill would mandate that abortion businesses provide women with information about abortion’s risks and alternatives beforehand.

Similar laws in other states have reduced the number of abortions by about one-third.

The measure also includes a requirement that parents be notified about a teenager daughter’s abortion prior to it being performed.

Del City Representative Kevin Calvey, the bill sponsor, said 19 other states have similar informed consent requirements.

The Oklahoma state Senate rejected a similar bill last year because it contained provisions pro-life lawmakers opposed.

The state chairman for Oklahomans for Life, Tony Lauinger, wrote a letter to Senate members in which he said that particular "informed consent" measure was "meaningless."

The legislation did not require women to be informed about fetal development for children less than 20 weeks old, when virtually all abortions occur.

Meanwhile, the state House committee also passed the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which offers further protection for pregnant women. Prosecutors will be able to hold criminals accountable for two crimes rather than just one.

According to current Oklahoma law, the killing of an unborn child after viability is homicide. The statute provides no protection for pregnant women earlier in pregnancy.