Oklahoma could soon set up a database that stores the details of every woman who has an abortion in the state.
Under the plans, women would be assigned a ‘unique identification number’ that records the date, gestational age and reason for the abortion.
It would then be used to track how many subsequent abortions the woman has — in a state where all abortions are illegal except when necessary to save the life of the mom.
Supporters of the bill say it will help them track abortions in the state in the same way as births and deaths — but campaigners have called it a ‘major privacy issue’.
The above map shows abortion bans by state, including Oklahoma — where the procedure is banned from fertilization except in medical emergencies
Shown above are campaigners outside the Oklahoma state legislature. They are urging state lawmakers not to ban abortions
The data would be stored by the state’s Department of Health, and there are fears officials could be compelled to release the information — including a woman’s name — by a court order.
Oklahoma legislators proposed the ban in House bill HB3216, also known by supports as the state’s ‘Right to Life Act’, earlier this month.
The bill to create the database was tabled by Rep. Kevin West (pictured)
If passed, doctors will be required to submit details of any abortions they have carried out — including patient names — to the state’s Department of Health.
The state would be required to keep these names confidential and to assign each woman a ‘unique patient identifier’ — such as a string of numbers — to be used in public reports of the data.
There are already precious few abortions carried out in Oklahoma by doctors — which the Governor has vowed to make the most anti-abortion state in the US.
Doctors will also need to submit statements under oath on why the abortion was deemed necessary to ‘preserve the life of the pregnant woman’.
Physicians who refuse to comply with the law could have their license revoked or be sued by the state.
While the data could be used to check the number of women having more than one abortion, it will not record the geographical location of the procedure.
The highlighted states have laws on the books stipulating that life begins at the moment of fertilization. In Louisiana, the intentional disposal or destruction of a human embryo is illegal
Cases where there is unintentional injury or death of an unborn child during medical treatment would not need to be submitted to the database.
The bill has already survived two readings on Oklahoma’s House floor and this week was voted through by the House Public Health Committee 5 to 1.
It will face another vote on the House floor next month before going through two readings, a committee and a vote in the Senate. It will need to be signed by the Governor before it becomes law.
Representatives for Kevin West, who tabled the bill, say it is not clear when it could become law — as it could face hurdles in the legislature.
The Republican party holds a ‘supermajority’ in the House — 80 out of the 101 seats available — and in the Senate — holding 40 of the 48 seats available.
The language of the bill has already been adjusted to help prevent it bringing in a ban on birth-control devices — IUDs —that can help to prevent pregnancy.
If passed, the bill would come into force some 30 days later.
Rep. West has revealed that he drafted the bill alongside the Alliance Defending Freedom — which claims to be a Christian law firm and was involved in overturning Roe v Wade.
Speaking at a hearing on the bill, he said he wanted to track abortions similarly to how the state already tracks births and deaths.
Many campaigners have railed against the bill, however, branding it a breach of privacy and ‘alarming’.
House Minority Leader and Democrat Cyndi Munson, who told the Daily Beast: ‘It’s just a way to continue to create fear and shame.
‘[That is] not just for those seeking abortions, but also any physician who provides reproductive healthcare.’
Democrat state representative Trish Ranson, who was on the health committee, slammed the bill as a ‘major privacy issue’.
‘There is a relationship between patient and doctor that is sacred,’ she said.
‘And the fact that that would be… reported elsewhere, that there would be a number assigned to the woman is… just alarming.’
It comes as a second bill makes its way through the House which seeks to bring felony drug-trafficking charges against people found to have or to deliver abortion-inducing medication such as mifepristone.
Under the bill, anyone found delivering abortion pills or possessing them with an intent to deliver could face 10 years in prison or $100,000 in fines.
Mifepristone is one of two abortion bills being delivered to women in the state by online pharmacies to help them end pregnancies.
It is also the subject of legal action from the Alliance of Hippocratic Medicine — a collective of anti-abortion organizations — who say it should be withdrawn from shelves because it is ‘unsafe’ and the approval process was flawed.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) refutes the claims, however, arguing that the drug is safe and effective.
It has cited a series of studies that show that serious complications are rare.
Campaigners have also pointed out that the pill has been available since 2000 and has been taken by millions of women nationwide without serious adverse reactions being recorded in the vast majority of cases.
