Fallin signs bill tripling Oklahoma's abortion waiting period

Starting Nov. 1, Oklahoma women wanting an abortion will have to wait three days.

Gov. Mary Fallin signed a bill Wednesday making Oklahoma the fourth state to have a 72-hour wait time. That’s triple the wait time presently required.

“This legislation will help women get the information they need before making a decision they can’t take back,” said Fallin. “It will allow for more time to consider medical risks as well as explore alternatives to abortion, such as adoption.”

House Bill 1409 also requires abortion clinics that operate a website to add a link to the state’s website, “A Woman’s Right to Know” — www.awomansright.org. The site has a photo of a tiny fetus and includes information about pregnancy, childbirth, adoption and helplines.

The measure by Republican Rep. Lisa Billy, of Lindsay, passed overwhelmingly.

Under current law, a doctor is required to provide a patient with numerous details at least 24 hours before the procedure, including the age of the fetus, risks involved and that ultrasound and heart tone monitoring are available.

“I just think before you have any kind of surgery you need to have all the information in your hand before you make that irrevocable decision,” Billy said.

“I'm very pro-life. Anytime a woman makes a decision, she needs to have all that information in her hand prior to making a decision that will take the life of an unborn, separate, unique human being from her.”

Amanda Allen, state legislative counsel for the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights, said the bill is part of a larger effort by the Oklahoma Legislature to restrict access to legal abortion.

“It's really about shame and the government trying to coerce a woman into delaying care she has already decided she needs,” Allen said.

“It's part of a larger agenda to ensure that as long as abortion is legal, it is as difficult as possible to access it.”

The three states that now have 72-hour waiting periods are Missouri, South Dakota and Utah, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit group in New York that supports access to legal abortion.