The Oklahoma House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday placing new restrictions on abortions. Lawmakers say that the bill aims to protect women's health, despite opposing forces insisting it's actually an attempt to shut down abortion clinics.
The official who wrote the bill, Republican Mike Ritze, who is also a physician, said his goal was to ensure women who experience complications like hemorrhaging have immediate access to hospital care.
"If the federal law is going to allow abortions, the state has a responsibility to our citizens to ensure those procedures are done as safely as possible," Ritze told Reuters.
A similar law was passed in Texas requiring physicians who perform abortions to have a fully equipped hospital within 30 miles of their facility.
Some opponents have accused the legislation has having an ulterior motive, however.
"The intent of this legislation is to restrict access to safe, legal abortions, plain and simple," said Jill June, president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland.
Taking into account that Oklahoma is a rural area with a small population, June thinks the bill is strategic in that it places a burden on abortion clinics as medical care can be scarce.
Democrat Jerry McPeak agrees, and voted against the bill because he thought it would limit health care options for women in rural areas, including in his own district.
Ritze dismisses such claims.
"If the federal law is going to allow abortions, the state has a responsibility to our citizens to ensure those procedures are done as safely as possible," Ritze said.
The House voted it through 73-9, and the Oklahoma Senate voted 19-2 on Wednesday in favor of a similar bill, meaning the measure will likely pass with flying colors once put to a full vote.
