OKLAHOMA CITY — One of the first bills of the 2020 Oklahoma legislative session is designed to move the state a step closer to making abortion illegal.
House Bill 1182 would temporarily revoke doctors license for performing an abortion. The bill passed the House by a vote of 71-21.
It says medical licenses of doctors conducting abortions would be suspended for at least six months and fined at least $500 unless abortion is necessary to prevent serious risk or death of a mother.
Rep. Kevin West, R-District 54, who is one of the sponsors of the bills, says its about the unborn children.
"It's definitely important for saving the lives of unborn children who are always left out of the conversation," West said.
An organization that provides resources to low and no income women calls the bill unconstitutional.
"It's the law of the land," said Kurt Gwartney, board member at RoeFund and Oklahoma Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. "Access to abortion is legal in all 50 states in this country, despite legislatures like Oklahoma's trying to make it more and more difficult for women to access their constitutional right to abortion."
Anyone not a doctor performing abortions would face a felony charge and one to three years in prison.
The bill now moves to the Senate.
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