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Tuesday, Feb 18, 2025

Is Oklahoma considering a bill that would make it possible to prosecute abortion patients as murderers?

Matthew Yim, Oklahoma Watch
yes

Three Oklahoma lawmakers have sponsored a bill that would allow abortion recipients in the state to be charged with murder.

Senate Bill 456 seeks to modify Oklahoma’s homicide statute to stipulate that “even where the charge is murder, the provisions of this section shall apply if the victim is an unborn child and the defendant is the child’s mother.”

The statute currently defines homicide as the killing of one human being — including unborn children — by another but exempts legal abortions.

The bill’s sponsors are Sen. Dusty Deevers, R-Elgin, Rep. Gabe Woolley, R-Broken Arrow, and Sen. Warren Hamilton, R-McCurtain. It was introduced Feb. 3, 2025 and was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Similar bills have been introduced in Indiana, South Carolina, and North Dakota.

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