Abolish Abortion Oklahoma
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Links:
Senate Health and Human Services Committee (SHHS) Contact Information
Full Senate Contact Information
House Public Health Committee (HPH) Contact Information
Full House of Representatives Contact Information
Urgent Legislative Alert: Update on SB368
5/21/2023
SB368, which protects abortifacient birth control, passed the House 90-0 after being amended. The Senate has rejected those amendments and sent the bill to a Conference Committee. Senator Garvin, the original Senate author of the bill, has turned the bill over to Senator Daniels, who is now the Senate author. On Monday (5/22/23), the Senate Republicans will meet to decide whether or not to insert Senator Daniels’ language from SB834, which was never heard on the Senate floor, into SB368. This means that Monday, the bill could be completely changed from a bad bill to a terrible bill that WILL reopen abortion clinics in Oklahoma by reinstating exceptions to Oklahoma’s abortion ban that were removed by the “trigger bill” following the Dobbs SCOTUS decision.
You may remember from earlier in the session, Tony Launinger (Oklahomans for Life and National Right To Life) and Senator Daniels were trying everything they could to get this bill moving, but the opposition was just too stiff. Senator Daniels and Mr. Lauinger have their minds set on resurrecting SB834 by inserting it into SB368. If the GOP Senate caucus decides to move forward, the bill could go to the Senate floor by Tuesday and to the House floor after that. It is critical that we generate phone calls and emails immediately.
Call or email the following House conferees:
Rep. Randleman: (405) 557-7375 / randy.randleman@okhouse.gov
Rep. Stark (405) 557-7403 / marilyn.stark@okhouse.gov
Rep. Newton (405) 557-7339 / carl.newton@okhouse.gov
You can insert the following block into the BCC field of your email to email them all at once:
randy.randleman@okhouse.gov, marilyn.stark@okhouse.gov, carl.newton@okhouse.gov
Tell the House conferees to refuse to pass SB368 out of the conference committee in any form.
Also, call your own state Senator AND Representative and ask them to vote against SB368 if it comes to the floor of their respective chamber. If you are not sure who your Senator and/or Representative is, you can find that information here.
Legislative Alert: Update on SB368
5/4/2023
I am amazed at the double-dealing of modern pro-life leaders and politicians. I shouldn’t be, right? Yeah, but I am. At every turn, there seems to be a new example of pro-life leaders and politicians saying one thing and doing another. The result? They prosper and babies continue to be murdered before even taking their first breath.
Earlier in the session, we had Senator Daniels’ SB834 which sought to reinstate abortion exceptions taken out of the law just months earlier. Then came Senator Garvin’s SB368 which seeks to protect abortifacient birth control measures (they can cause abortions). The bill advanced through the Senate but seemed to encounter some opposition in the House when Rep. Olsen filed an amendment to specifically exclude abortifacient birth control from the bill. Then just days later in a true head-scratch moment, Rep. Olsen sat silent as the House author, Rep. Hasenbeck, offered an amendment that actually denies science (often the political right gets accused of denying science when science is actually on our side, but this truly did deny science). Her amendment essentially codifies into state law that abortifacients aren’t really abortifacients. It’s one thing to run a bad bill but it is next-level to intentionally and knowingly codify a lie into law.
Rep. Olsen and several other legislators that knew better sat silently as the amendment was adopted and then voted for the passage of the bill. The bill passed 90-0.
SB368 goes back to the Senate for the House Amendments to be accepted or rejected. When the bill was originally voted on in the Senate on March 22, it passed 40-7, so it is likely that the amendments will be accepted, and the bill will go to the Governor.
Governor Stitt is fond of referring to himself as “America’s most pro-life Governor” and our state as “the most pro-life state in the country.” Well, I suppose we will see once again what he means by “pro-life” when he is sent a pro-abortifacient bill by our pro-life legislature.
Contact Governor Stitt and urge him to veto SB368 when it gets to his desk. You can reach the Governor’s office by phone at 405-521-2342 or by email via webform at https://oklahoma.gov/governor/contact/leave-a-comment-or-opinion.html.
Legislative Alert: SB368 Available for Floor Vote Soon
4/18/2023
Last week, SB368 passed out of the House Public Health Committee by a vote of 5 for and 1 against. Republican Representatives Hasenbeck, Newton, Randleman, and Roe (as well as Democrat Representative Ranson) voted in favor of the bill with the lone vote against it cast by Representative Stark. As of Monday, SB368 has not been placed on the House floor agenda, but that could happen at any time. The bill, authored by Senator Garvin and Representative Hasenbeck, would protect abortifacient birth control measures and IVF if enacted. Please contact your Representative and ask that they vote against SB368 if it is brought to the floor. You can use the “Find Your Legislator” link above to find their contact information. Also, consider sending an email to the entire Republican House Caucus by copying and pasting the House email block into the BCC field in your email. That block can be found by clicking the “Full House of Representatives Contact Information” link above.
Legislative Alert: SB368 and SB931 on House Public Health Committee Agenda, April 12
4/10/2023
SB368 (Garvin/Hasenbeck) and SB931 (Garvin/McEntire) have been placed on the House Public Health Committee agenda for April 12. SB368 would protect certain birth control measures (including some that are abortifacient) and IVF, among other things. SB931 would modify the definition of “practice of pharmacy” in state law to include dispensing contraceptives, including those that are abortifacient. These measures are simply steps on a ladder that will eventually lead to establishing collaborative relationships between pharmacists and doctors to allow pharmacists to actually prescribe those contraceptives. Neither of these bills directly accomplish this, however, Senator Garvin had a third companion bill to these bills that would accomplish that. That bill did not advance through the process, but she will most likely try again next year. The other elements in SB931 are simply background noise. The ultimate goal is for pharmacists to be able to operate in the same manner as nurse practitioners and physician assistants in actually prescribing these abortifacients.
Please contact the members of the House Public Health Committee and ask that they oppose these two bills. You can find their information here, including an email block that you can copy and paste into your email’s BCC field to email all of them at one time. The Committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 12 at 3:00 pm.
Legislative Alert: SB931 on Senate Floor Calendar for Tuesday, March 21
3/20/2023
SB931 (Garvin/Marti) has been placed on the Senate Floor Calendar for tomorrow (Tuesday, March 21). This bill will protect certain birth control measures that are abortifacient by amending the definition of “practice of pharmacy” in state law. Please contact your Senator (and any or all other Senators) and ask them to vote against SB931 when it is brought to the floor for a vote. If you are unsure who your Senator is, you can use the “Find Your Legislator” link above to find that information. If you would like to send an email to all senators, you can use the “Full Senate Contact Information” link above for an email block that you can copy and paste into your BCC field to send an email to all senators at one time.
Also, see the Legislative Alert following this one about SB834. SB834 has yet to be placed on the floor calendar, however, proponents of the bill are still working to get the bill heard. It would be helpful to make contact as requested in that alert as well.
Legislative Alert: SB834 deadline approaching – Oklahomans For Life Pulling Out All The Stops
3/14/2023 – UPDATED on 4/16/23
Tony Lauinger and Oklahomans for Life / National Right to Life are pulling out all the stops trying to push SB834, authored by Senator Julie Daniels, which will reopen the abortion mills in Oklahoma. It would reinstate exceptions allowing for abortion in the case of rape or incest just one year after passing bills that removed those exceptions. Lauinger claims that we need this bill to pass in order to have “sustainable” laws governing abortion in Oklahoma. He says that because of Oklahoma’s initiative petition laws, the Left will run an initiative for a ballot measure that will enshrine abortion rights into our state constitution (and he is using flawed poll numbers to justify that position). Well, of course they will, but this bill will NOT keep them from doing that. Tony apparently hopes that allowing a little evil will keep our state from allowing a lot of evil. Evil is evil. This is bad public policy rooted in pragmatism and fear.
Tony, Oklahomas for Life, and National Right to Life are pulling out all the stops to pressure the Legislature to hear and pass this bill. It is ironic that the largest pro-life organization in the country and the primary pro-life organization in Oklahoma are behind a pro-abortion bill. They are powerful organizations, so while the bill has been slow to move due to opposition within the Republican caucus, we cannot ignore the push in favor of the bill.
Please contact your State Senator and your State Representative and ask them to oppose SB834. If you are unsure who your Senator or Representative is, you can find that information easily by clicking here. It will be helpful to use your zip code +4 (there is a link on that page to look that up if you are unsure what it is).
UPDATE: the deadline for this bill to be heard on the floor of the Senate is Thursday, March 23. Oklahomans for Life is working hard to get it heard. If you have not already done so, please contact your Representative AND Senator and ask them to “oppose SB834.” Please make your calls and/or send your emails by Monday afternoon. The Legislature is adjourned until Monday afternoon. It would be helpful if their voicemail box and email inbox are full when they get to the Capitol on Monday.
Legislative Alert: Pro-Life Bills Scheduled in House and Senate
2/12/2023
Senate: The three bills described in the legislative alert below (from 2/8/2023) will be available for a floor vote this week. Considering that National Right to Life / Oklahomans for Life is supporting this bill (SB834) and given the relationship between those organizations and Senate leadership, it is all but a foregone conclusion they will be scheduled unless enough pressure is applied to individual senators to cause doubt as to whether they would pass or not. Please call and/or email your senator (use the “Find Your Legislator” link above if you are unsure who your senator is) and the entire Senate (use the “Full Senate Contact Information” link above to get an email block to put in the BCC field of your email). Contact them as often as you are able. Let them know you want them to vote “No” on SB834, SB368, and SB931.
House: The House Public Health Committee will hear HB1655 (McEntire) on Wednesday 2/15/2023 at 3 pm. HB1655 is the House companion bill to SB931 (Garvin), which was passed out of the Senate HHS Committee last week. It will protect abortifacient birth control drugs by redefining the “practice of pharmacy” to include the dispensing of self-administered hormonal contraceptives that are approved by the FDA, which often induce abortions. Please call and/or email the members of the House Public Health Committee BEFORE Wednesday (use the “House Public Health Committee” link at the top of this page to find committee contact information).
Advocacy: If you would like to help us distribute issue briefs to the Senators and the members of the House Public Health Committee, join us at 1 pm on Tuesday (2/14/2023) on the 4th Floor Rotunda of the Capitol. It will not take long. We will wrap up by 2:30 pm so you’ll have plenty of time to get where you need to be for Valentine’s Day events. Your help will be greatly appreciated as it will speed up the process of getting the necessary information out to the legislators.
Legislative Alert: SB834, SB368, & SB931 to be Heard By Senate HHS Thursday
2/8/2023
AAOK Bill List
2/2/2023
We are days away from the beginning of the session and Abolition Day 2023. We hope you are planning to join us at the Capitol for the rally and at Edmond’s FBC for the conference. We need a huge turnout at the Capitol to urge our legislators to do the right thing and protect the lives of all Oklahomans, including our preborn neighbors. Click the link below for a list of bills filed this year. You will quickly see that our legislators’ priorities are not what they should be. All of the Senate Bills (SB) have been assigned to the Senate Health and Human Services (HHS) Committee. Go ahead and start calling the committee members to urge them to support SB402, Senator Hamilton’s abolition bill. As soon as we get the committee assignments for the House Bills (HB), we will update the list and let you know. You will find the contact information for the Senate HHS Committee by clicking the link at the top of this page. Click here for the 2023 Bill List.