The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a bill passed by the state Legislature to restrict abortion is unconstitutional.
Senate Bill 642, which was passed in 2015 but did not go into effect pending court action, sought to add new requirements to abortion providers and would have penalized them for violations.
It would have made it a felony for a person to help a minor obtain an abortion without parental consent.
It would have authorized the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to create new protocols for statutory rape investigations and required abortion providers to preserve fetal tissue when an abortion was performed on someone under 14 years old. The tissue would be used to aid those investigations.
It also sought to grant authority to the state Board of Health to create new policies and procedures for licensing abortion facilities.
The court ruled the legislation covered multiple subjects in violation of the Oklahoma Constitution.
It also found that the bill placed "undue burdens on access to abortion under the guise of protecting the health of women."
Representatives of The Center for Reproductive Rights, which filed the lawsuit, praised the court decision.
"Today's decision is a critical victory for Oklahoma women and their doctors, who will no longer face the threat of criminal prosecution simply for providing safe and legal health care to their patients," said Nancy Northup, president and chief executive officer of the center.
"This law was nothing but a cynical attack on women's health and rights by unjustly targeting their trusted health care providers."
She said the center has challenged Oklahoma abortion laws eight times.
"The center has a 100 percent success rate for concluded cases challenging Oklahoma restrictions on reproductive health care services," Northup said.
Senate Bill 642, authored by Sen. Greg Treat and Rep. Randy Grau was passed 40-5 in the Senate and 70-5 in the House. It was signed into law by Gov. Mary Fallin on June 4, 2015.
Treat and Grau did not immediately respond to calls for comment.
Larry A. Burns, a Norman medical doctor who performs abortions, was the plaintiff.
(c)2016 The Oklahoman
