Oklahoma law blocked by court...for now.

Create by: Jillian

An Oklahoma Law that "requires physicians to ask patients, described as "mothers," up to 37 personal questions, including their age, marital status, race, years of education, number of prior pregnancies, reason for the abortion, method of abortion and payment and whether an ultrasound was performed", was blocked by legal action on Monday.

In addition to asking women for extemely personal and potentially identifiable information, this bill requires that information on patients who have abortion be posted on a state website.

The Center for Reproductive Rights filed a suit which argues that this bill violates the Oklahoma Constitution by covering more than one subject--it bans abortion based on gender, redefines some abortion-related terms and creates new duties for the state Department of Health.

Many advocates were appauled by the bill because of it's intrusive nature and questioned if the bill violates patient privacy protection that is guaranteed under the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

Regardless--this bill is a barrier to service and limits a woman's access to a legal proceedure as evident by the comments the bill's Senate co-author Todd Lamb, a Republican who is running for lieutenant governor.

"This legislation is essential in protecting the sanctity of life. Too often the life of the unborn is taken for granted and I applaud my colleagues for their bipartisan support of a pro-life measure, despite attempts on the floor to sabotage this issue important to families across our state."

This "pro-life" measure will not end abortion, it will only cause women to seek abortion elsewhere putting them at risk and/or death. Banning abortion doesn't reduce abortion...but contraception does!

Maybe instead of wasting their time on anti-choice measures meant to restrict abortion care, Oklahama state government could focus on passing pro-active prevention measures.

We'll keep watching this story and provide updates on the status of the law and lawsuit!