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.