State Senator and bill sponsor Natham Dahm (R-District 33) tells American Family News the Sooner State has passed several bills on the topic within the last year.
"Just about a month ago, our governor signed my other bill that would criminalize abortion with a felony conviction," Dahm notes. "But what this bill does is it does the civil aspect of it, similar to what Texas has done."
Under the measure, a civil penalty can be brought against someone for performing an abortion, paying for an abortion, and/or transporting someone to get an abortion.
"So anyone that has any involvement in the abortion could face up to $10,000 civil penalty," Dahm details. "It's similar to Texas, but the Texas law was heartbeat, and this actually moves up from the beginning, from fertilization."
State Senator David Bullard (R-District 6) has also sponsored the bill formally known as HB 4327.
"The abortion industry is just that -- it's a for-profit industry that is there to make money off of murdering babies," says Bullard. "So we're trying to shut them down."
The Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) is speaking out against the measure.
"As we await the final nail in the coffin of what's left of Roe v. Wade, anti-abortion state legislators are gleefully passing draconian abortion bans," the FFRF tweeted recently. "The Freedom From Religion Foundation condemns Oklahoma's action to pass a near-complete ban on abortion— the most restrictive in the country."
Included in the tweet is a picture of the phrase "abortion is healthcare" written in chalk on a sidewalk.
"Abortion clearly is not healthcare because healthcare doesn't kill people," counters Steven Ertelt, editor of LifeNews.com. "In abortion, the only intent of an abortion is to end the life of an unborn child."
If Democrats and other abortion advocates cared about women's medical care, Ertelt reasons they would support efforts for better maternal healthcare.
"We're seeing a maternal health crisis in this country, and I know that pro-life Republican legislators are proposing legislation to help deal with that problem," he says. "Instead of promoting abortion, if they actually care about real healthcare for women, they will promote efforts to reduce maternal mortality to provide real healthcare for women."
Lawsuits are expected to be filed, but Bullard says Oklahoma is prepared.
"That is their number-one way to try to get around this and continue to murder babies, is to use the courts to give them permission to do so," says Bullard. "The courts have actually been in our favor here lately, and the American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ) has offered to help on a lot of these cases. But we have an attorney general right now who is fighting like a champion to help end abortion, and I have full confidence that he can win that battle for us."
In terms of news coverage, Dahm says there have been some inaccurate reports on the bill.
"Some news outlets have reported there are no exceptions in the bill, but that's not true," he asserts. "There is an exemption for the life of the mother and for rape and incest, if the rape or incest is actually reported to law enforcement."
So while the measure does include those exceptions, rape or incest cannot be used as an excuse after the fact; it has to be reported beforehand.
