Oklahoma passes law criminalising using abortion-inducing drugs

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OKLAHOMA CITY – Legislation that would penalize someone who distributes abortion-inducing drugs with a felony passed the Oklahoma House on Thursday.

State Rep. Denise Crosswhite Hader, R-Piedmont, authored House Bill 3013, which according to a release from the chamber, would result in a felony upon conviction for anyone who knows or has reason to know that another person intends to utilize abortion-inducing drugs to “cause an unlawful abortion and who knowingly or intentionally delivers” such a drug or commits trafficking of the drug.

A pharmacist, manufacturer or distributor of surgical supplies who lawfully manufactures, possesses, offers, sells, or distributes the drugs would not be charged.

According to bill language, abortion-inducing refers to drugs and substances prescribed or dispensed with the intent of inducing an abortion. The felony offense would be punishable by a fine of up to $100,000 and 10 years of imprisonment.

Crosswhite Hader said while surgical abortions have stopped in Oklahoma, chemical abortions continue. She said her intent with the legislation is to protect the health of women by stopping the trafficking and sharing of abortion-inducing drugs.

The bill would not restrict the Plan B or Morning After Pill. Crosswhite Hader said there are numerous reports of women being given these medical or chemical abortion-inducing drugs by non-medical professionals who do not understand what the medications can do to a woman if administered incorrectly.

“My goal is to protect the physical and mental health of women,” Crosswhite Hader said. “This bill addresses people that are trafficking abortion-inducing drugs to young women with little to no thought to the consequences. All to make a profit from a woman during one of the most vulnerable times of her life.”

House Democrats debated against the bill, arguing that abortion medication and care are already restricted from medical professionals in Oklahoma after the statewide abortion ban.

House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson, D-Oklahoma City, said she believes the author wants to protect women, but called the bill an attack on women’s reproductive rights that’s dangerous because women can’t access the healthcare they need. She referenced an annual WalletHub study that ranks Oklahoma near or at the bottom of the best states for women and insinuated that HB 3013 only serves to solidify that ranking.

“We continue to chip away and make the argument that it’s about those who are preying on women, but my fear is still that it will be on the woman trying to access the care that she needs,” Munson said.

In favor of the measure, state Rep. Mark Tedford, R-Tulsa, debated that arguments against legislation on this subject oftentimes claim that further restrictions might result in people opting not to come to the state or they might choose to leave. He pointed to an article about Oklahoma making the top 10 for net migration.

“All of the top 10 net migration states have pro-life legislation. So this is not an issue for us, and I would encourage everyone to vote for the bill,” Munson said.

Crosswhite Hader said she doesn’t see the bill as pro life or pro choice.

“This is a criminal action that we’re trying to stop,” Crosswhite Hader said.

The bill passed the House 77-18 and heads to the Senate.

HB 3013 is one of 28 abortion-related measures filed in 2024.

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