Latest State-Level Attack on Reproductive Rights Takes Aim at Safe Medical Procedure

The latest offensive against reproductive rights just gained new ground in Oklahoma, where the GOP-dominated state legislature on Wednesday passed a controversial ban on a medical procedure that doctors say is critical to performing safe abortions during the second trimester.

HB 1721 (pdf) takes aim at the dilation and evacuation process, commonly known as D and E, which is used during second trimester abortions, as well as following miscarriages. The legislation, which was approved by the House 37-4 after passing the Senate 84-2 in February, imposes a ban on this procedure in the context of abortion, except in some cases of serious risk to the pregnant person.

The bill now heads to the desk of Republican Governor Mary Fallin, a vocal opponent of reproductive rights.

Based on a legislative model from the National Right to Life Committee, the measure passed over fierce opposition from medical professionals and reproductive justice advocates. Sponsors and proponents have used inflammatory language to promote the bill, including calling it the “Dismemberment Abortion Act” and, as RH Reality Check reporter Teddy Wilson points out, even invoking the Holocaust on the House floor.

But opponents charge that the legislation amounts, quite simply, to the denial of medical care—and basic rights.

“Every pregnant woman faces unique circumstances, challenges, and potential complications,” said Martha Skeeters, president of the Oklahoma Coalition for Reproductive Justice (OCRJ). “We must trust each woman to make the decisions that are right for her, and enable her to get the care she needs according to the best medical counsel — not the agendas of politicians who presume to know better.”

According to the OCRJ, nearly nine out of ten people seeking to terminate a pregnancy do so before the second trimester.

Click Here: Rugby league Jerseys