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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES - FLOOR VERSION
STATE OF OKLAHOMA
2nd Session of the 59th Legislature (2024)
HOUSE BILL 3216 By: West (Kevin) of the House
and
Bullard of the Senate
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to abortion; creating the Oklahoma
Life is a Human Right Act; defining terms;
prohibiting the prescription or selli ng of medication
with the intent to cause an abortion; civil
liability; providing for a certain procedure ;
providing for informed consent from pare nts or
guardians for refusal of treatment; requiring
physician to record certain information; directing
the State Department of Health to create forms;
providing exception for accidental in jury or death;
providing for the use of contraceptive s as long as
the purpose is not abortion; prohibiting emergency
contraception; defining certain conduct as
unprofessional; requiring revocation of license or
certificate; allowing certain civil action;
authorizing Attorney General to bring enforcement
actions; providing for the right to intervene;
providing for severability; providing for
codification; and providing an effecti ve date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
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SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new sect ion of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1-758.1 of Title 63, unless
there is created a duplication in numb ering, reads as follows:
This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Oklahoma Life
is a Human Right Act ".
SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1-758.2 of Title 63, unless
there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
As used in this section:
1. "Abortion" means the act of using or prescribing any
instrument, medicine, dr ug, or any other substance , device, or means
with the intent to terminate the clinically diagnosable pregnancy of
a woman with knowledge that the termination by those means will,
with reasonable likelihood, cause the death of the unborn child.
Such use, prescription, or means is not an abortion if done with the
intent to:
a. save the life or preserve the health of the unborn
human being,
b. remove a dead unborn human being caused by
miscarriage,
c. remove an ectopic pregnancy, or
d. perform a pre-viability separation procedure when such
procedure is necessary to preserve the life of the
pregnant woman;
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2. "Born alive" means the complete expulsion or extraction from
the pregnant woman of a human infant, at any stage of development,
who, after such expulsion or extraction, breathes, ha s a beating
heart, or has definite movement of voluntar y muscles, regardless of
whether the umbilical cord has been cut and regardless of whether
the expulsion or extraction occurs as a result of natural or induced
labor, Cesarean section, pre-viability separation procedure, or
other method;
3. "Conception" means t he fusion of a human spermatozoon with a
human ovum;
4. "Department" means the State Department of Health;
5. "Ectopic pregnan cy" means the state of carrying an unborn
human being outside of the uterine cavity;
6. "Health care provider" means any indivi dual who may be asked
to participate in any way in a health care service or proce dure,
including, but not limited to, the following: a physician,
physician's assistant , nurse, nurse's aide, medical assistant,
hospital employee, medical facility employee, or medical clinic
employee;
7. "Gestational age" or "probable gestation age" means the ag e
of an unborn human being as calculated from the first day of the
last menstrual period of the pregnant woman;
8. "Miscarriage" means a spontaneous loss of embry o or fetal
life;
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9. "Necessary to preserve the life of a pregnant woman" means
that, at any point in pregnancy, a pregnant woman's p hysician has
determined to a reaso nable degree of medical certainty or
probability that the continuation of the pregnan cy will endanger the
woman's life due to the pregnancy i tself or due to a medical
condition that the woman is either currently suffering or likely to
suffer during the pregnancy. In making this determinatio n, absolute
certainty is not required; however, a mere po ssibility or
speculation shall be insufficient;
10. "Pregnant" means the human female reproductive condition of
having a living unborn human being within he r body throughout every
stage of the unborn hu man being's life and development, from
fertilization to full gestation and childbirth ;
11. "Unborn child" or "unborn human being" means an individual
living member of the species Homo sapien from conceptio n to full
gestation and childbirth;
12. "Pre-viability" means before that stage of fetal
development when, in the reasonable medical judgment of the
physician based on t he particular facts of the case before him or
her and in light of the most advanced medical technology and
information available to him or her, there is a reasonable
likelihood of sustained survival of the unborn human being outside
the body of his or her mother, with or without artificial support;
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13. "Physician" means a person licensed to practice medicine in
Oklahoma;
14. "Separation procedure" means a medical procedure performed
by a physician to remove an unborn human being from his or her
mother's uterus. The term doe s not include an abortion as defined
by this act;
15. "Woman" means any person whose biological sex is female
based upon the person's genetics and reproductive anatomy.
SECTION 3. NEW LAW A new sec tion of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1-758.3 of Title 63, unless
there is created a dupl ication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. No person may knowingly administer to, prescr ibe for, or
sell to any pregnant woman any medici ne, drug, or other substance
with the specific int ent of causing or abetting an abortion.
B. No person may knowingly use or employ any instrument,
device, means, or procedure upon a pregnant woman with the specific
intent of causing or abetting an abor tion.
SECTION 4. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1-758.4 of Title 63, unless
there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows :
A. When performing a pre-viability separation procedure as
permitted under this act, the physician shall make re asonable
medical efforts under the circumstances to preserve both the life of
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the pregnant woman and the life of her unborn child in a manner
consistent with reasonable medical practi ce.
B. If the child is born alive following a pre-viability
separation procedure, an y health care provider present shall
exercise the same degree of profe ssional skill, care, and diligence
to preserve the life and health of the child as a reasonably
diligent and conscientious health care provider would render to any
other child born alive at the same gestational age.
C. The requirements of this section shall not be construed to
prevent a child's parents or guardia n from refusing to give consent
to medical treatment or surgical care which is no t medically
necessary or reasonable, including care or treatment which:
1. Is not necessary to save the life of the child;
2. Has a potential risk to the child's life or health that
outweighs the potential benefit to the child with the treatment or
care; or
3. Will do no more than temporarily prolong the act of dying
when death is imminent.
SECTION 5. NEW LAW A new secti on of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1-758.5 of Title 63, unless
there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. In every case in whic h a physician performs a pre-viability
separation procedure as permitted under this act, the physician
shall, within fifteen (15) days, cause to be filed with the State
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Department of Health, on a form supplied by the Depart ment, a report
containing the following information:
1. A unique patient identifier pro vided by the Department that
would, if legally required, allow the Department to identify the
woman upon whom the pre-viability separation procedure was
performed;
2. Date the pre-viability separation procedure was perfor med;
3. The probable gestational age of the unborn human being and
the method used to calculate gestational age;
4. A statement declaring that the pre-viability separation
procedure was necessary to p reserve the life of the pregnant woman;
and
5. Specific medical indications supporting the determination
that pre-viability separation procedure was necessary to preserve
the life of the pregnant woman.
B. The physician shall sign the form as his or her attestation
under oath that the information stated the reon is true and correct
to the best of his or her knowledge.
SECTION 6. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1-758.6 of Title 63, unless
there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. The State Department of Health shall create the forms
required by this act within thirty (30) days after the effective
date of this act. No provision of this act requiring the reporting
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of information on forms pub lished by the Department s hall be
applicable until ten (10) days after the requisite forms have been
made available or the effective date of th is act, whichever is
later.
B. The Department shall establish a confidential system of
creating and distributing unique patient identifier s to be used for
the reporting requirements of thi s act. It shall create this system
within thirty (30) days after the effective date of this act.
C. Unless required by a court order, t he Department shall not
release personally identifiable patient or physician information
obtained under this act.
SECTION 7. NEW LAW A new section of law to be cod ified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1-758.7 of Title 63, unless
there is created a duplication in numberin g, reads as follows:
A. Medical treatment provided to the pregnant woman by a
physician which results in the accidental or unintentional injury to
or the death of her unborn child is not a violation of Section 3 of
this act.
B. Nothing in this act may be construed to prohibit the use,
sale, prescription, or admi nistration of a contraceptive measure,
drug, chemical, or device if the contraceptive measure, drug,
chemical, or device is used, sold, prescribed, or administered in
accordance with manufacturer i nstructions and is not use d, sold,
prescribed, or administered with the spec ific intent to cause or
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induce an abortion or to prevent the implantation of a fertilized
egg.
SECTION 8. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as S ection 1-758.8 of Title 63, unless
there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as fol lows:
A. A physician who intentionally or knowingly violates the
prohibition in Section 3 of this act commits an act of
unprofessional conduct and his or her licen se to practice medicine
in Oklahoma shall be suspended or revoked for a minimum of one (1)
year pursuant to Title 435 of the Oklahoma Administrative Code.
B. In addition to whatever rem edies are available under the
common or statutory law of this state, f ailure to comply with the
requirements of this act shall provide a basis for a civil
malpractice action for actual and punitive damages.
C. No civil penalty may be assessed against a pregnant woman.
SECTION 9. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1-758.9 of Title 63, unless
there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
The Oklahoma Attorney General shall have author ity to bring an
action in law or equity to enforce the provisions of this act on
behalf of the State Commissioner of Health.
SECTION 10. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes a s Section 1-758.10 of Title 63, unless
there is created a duplication in numbering, read s as follows:
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The Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives may appoint
one or more of its members to intervene as a matter of right in any
case in which the con stitutionality or enforceabi lity of this act is
challenged pursuant to Section 2024 of Title 12 of the Oklahoma
Statutes.
SECTION 11. NEW LAW A new sectio n of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1-758.11 of Title 63, unless
there is created a duplication in numbering, r eads as follows:
It is the intent of the Oklahoma Legislature that ever y
provision of this act shall operate with equal f orce and shall be
severable one from the other and that, in the event that any
provision of this act shall be held invalid or unenforceable by a
court of competent jurisdiction, said provision shall be deem ed
severable and the remaining provisions of this act deemed fully
enforceable.
SECTION 12. This act shall become effective November 1, 2024.
COMMITTEE REPORT BY: COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC HEALTH, dated 02/ 15/2024 -
DO PASS, As Coauthored.