Oklahoma Statute Abortion Related Compilation (63 O.S. Section 1-730 ? 1-741):
Section 1-730 - Definitions.
1. "Abortion" means the purposeful termination of a human
pregnancy, by any person with an intention other than to
produce a live birth or to remove a dead unborn child;
2. "Unborn child" means the unborn offspring of human beings
from the moment of conception, through pregnancy, and until
live birth including the human conceptus, zygote, morula,
blastocyst, embryo and fetus;
3. "Viable" means potentially able to live outside of the womb of
the mother upon premature birth, whether resulting from natural
causes or an abortion;
4. "Conception" means the fertilization of the ovum of a female
individual by the sperm of a male individual;
5. "Health" means physical or mental health;
6. "Department" means the State Department of Health;
7. "Inducing an abortion" means the administration by any
person, including the pregnant woman, of any substance
designed or intended to cause an expulsion of the unborn child,
effecting an abortion as defined above; and
8. Nothing contained herein shall be construed in any manner to
include any birth control device or medication or sterilization
procedure.
Section 1-731 ? Persons Who May Perform Abortions ?
Violations- Penalties.
A. No person shall perform or induce an abortion upon a
pregnant woman unless that person is a physician licensed to
practice medicine in the State of Oklahoma. Any person violating
this section shall be guilty of a felony punishable by
imprisonment for not less than one (1) year nor more than three
(3) years in the State Penitentiary.
B. No person shall perform or induce an abortion upon a
pregnant woman subsequent to the end of the first trimester of
her pregnancy, unless such abortion is performed or induced in
a general hospital.
Section 1-732 ? Viable Fetus ? Grounds to Abort -
Procecure.
A. No person shall perform or induce an abortion upon a
pregnant woman after such time as her unborn child has
become viable unless such abortion is necessary to prevent the
death of the pregnant woman or to prevent impairment to her
health.
B. An unborn child shall be presumed to be viable if more than
twenty-four (24) weeks have elapsed since the probable
beginning of the last menstrual period of the pregnant woman,
based upon either information provided by her or by an
examination by her attending physician. If it is the judgment of
the attending physician that a particular unborn child is not viable
where the presumption of viability exists as to that particular
unborn child, then he shall certify in writing the precise medical
criteria upon which he has determined that the particular unborn
child is not viable before an abortion may be performed or
induced.
C. No abortion of a viable unborn child shall be performed or
induced except after written certification by the attending
physician that in his best medical judgment the abortion is
necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman or to
prevent an impairment to her health. The physician shall further
certify in writing the medical indications for such abortion and the
probable health consequences if the abortion is not performed or
induced.
D. The physician who shall perform or induce an abortion upon a
pregnant woman after such time as her unborn child has
become viable shall utilize the available method or technique of
abortion most likely to preserve the life and health of the unborn
child, unless he shall first certify in writing that in his best
medical judgment such method or technique shall present a
significantly greater danger to the life or health of the pregnant
woman than another available method or technique.
E. An abortion of a viable unborn child shall be performed or
induced only when there is in attendance a physician other than
the physician performing or inducing the abortion who shall take
control of and provide immediate medical care for the child.
During the performance or inducing of the abortion, the
physician performing it, and subsequent to it, the physician
required by this section to be in attendance, shall take all
reasonable steps in keeping with good medical practice,
consistent with the procedure used, to preserve the life and
health of the child, in the same manner as if the child had been
born naturally or spontaneously. The requirement of the
attendance of a second physician may be waived when in the
best judgment of the attending physician a medical emergency
exists and further delay would result in a serious threat to the life
or physical health of the pregnant woman. Provided that, under
such emergency circumstances and waiver, the attending
physician shall have the duty to take all reasonable steps to
preserve the life and health of the child before, during and after
the abortion procedure, unless such steps shall, in the best
medical judgment of the physican, present a significantly greater
danger to the life or health of the pregnant woman.
F. Any person violating subsection A of this section shall be
guilty of homicide.
Section 1-733 ? Self-Induced Abortions.
No woman shall perform or induce an abortion upon herself
except under the supervision of a duly licensed physician. Any
physician who supervises a woman in performing or inducing an
abortion upon herself shall fulfill all the requirements of this
article which apply to a physician performing or inducing an
abortion.
Section 1-734 ? Live-Born Fetus ? Care and Treatment.
A. No person shall purposely take the life of a child born as a
result of an abortion or attempted abortion which is alive when
partially or totally removed from the uterus of the pregnant
woman.
B. No person shall purposely take the life of a viable child who is
alive while inside the uterus of the pregnant woman and may be
removed alive therefrom without creating any significant danger
to her life or health.
C. Any person who performs, induces, or participates in the
performance or inducing of an abortion shall take all reasonable
measures to preserve the life of a child who is alive when
partially or totally removed from the uterus of the pregnant
woman, so long as the measures do not create any significant
danger to her life or health.
D. Any person violating this section shall be guilty of homicide.
Section 1-735 ? Sale of Child, Unborn child or Remains of
Child - Experiments.
A. No person shall sell a child, an unborn child or the remains of
a child or an unborn child resulting from an abortion. No person
shall experiment upon a child or an unborn child resulting from
an abortion or which is intended to be aborted unless the
experimentation is therapeutic to the child or unborn child.
B. No person shall experiment upon the remains of a child or an
unborn child resulting from an abortion. The term "experiment"
does not include autopsies performed according to law.
Section 1-736 ? Hospitals ? Advertising of Counseling to
Pregnant Women
No hospital in which abortions are performed or induced shall
advertise or hold itself out as also providing counseling to
pregnant women, unless:
1. The counseling is done by a licensed physician, a licensed
registered nurse or by a person holding at least a bachelor's
degree from an accredited college or university in psychology or
some similarly appropriate field;
2. The counseling includes factual information, including explicit
discussion of the development of the unborn child; and
3. The counseling includes a thorough discussion of the
alternatives to abortion and the availability of agencies and
services to assist her if she chooses not to have an abortion.
Section 1-737 ? Hospitals Which May Perform Abortions.
An abortion otherwise permitted by law shall be performed only
in a hospital, as defined in this article, which meets standards
set by the Department. The Department shall develop and
promulgate reasonable standards relating to abortions.
Section 1-738 ? Form to be Completed by Attending
Physician.
A. The Department shall adopt a form which shall be completed
by each attending physician who performs or induces an
abortion which shall include all medical facts pertinent to the
procedure and which shall allow the woman and her physician to
volunteer other personal facts for statistical public health
purposes. This abortion report shall also contain the following
information about any consent form required by law:
1. Was the consent form signed?
2. Who signed the consent form? The patient, her parents,
guardian, or a court?
3. If the consent is waived, what are the reasons? Forcible rape,
incest or a medical necessity to save the life of the mother?
The Department shall be responsible for collecting all abortion
reports and complication reports and collating and evaluating all
data gathered therefrom.
B. The Department shall make available to all licensed
physicians abortion report forms and complication report forms.
C. The report shall be confidential and shall not contain the
name of the woman.
Section 1-739 ? Records.
All hospitals shall keep records, including admission and
discharge notes, histories, results of tests and examinations,
nurses worksheets, social service records and progress notes of
patients. All abortion facilities and hospitals in which abortions
are performed shall also keep certifications of medical necessity,
certifications of nonviability, certifications of nonavailability,
abortion reports and complication reports as required in this act.
Such records shall be maintained in the permanent files of the
hospital for a period of not less than seven (7) years.
Section 1-740 ? Abortion on Minor Without Parental
Consent.
Any person who performs an abortion on a minor without
parental consent or knowledge shall be liable for the cost of any
subsequent medical treatment such minor might require
because of the abortion.
Section 1-741 ? Abortions ? Refusal to Perform or
Participate - Exemptions.
A. No private hospital, hospital director or governing board of a
private hospital in Oklahoma, is required to permit abortions to
be performed or induced in such hospital. Refusal to permit an
abortion, in accordance with a standard policy, is not grounds for
civil liability nor a basis for disciplinary or other recriminatory
action.
B. No person may be required to perform, induce or participate
in medical procedures which result in an abortion which are in
preparation for an abortion or which involve aftercare of an
abortion patient, except when the aftercare involves emergency
medical procedures which are necessary to protect the life of the
patient, and refusal to perform or participate in such medical
procedures is not grounds for civil liability nor a basis for
disciplinary or other recriminatory action.
C. The rights and immunities granted by this section shall not
include medical procedures in which a woman is in the process
of the spontaneous, inevitable abortion of an unborn child, the
death of the child is imminent, and the procedures are necessary
to prevent the death of the mother.
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