A policy that would prevent the state from enforcing certain requirements on crisis pregnancy centers and allow those centers to sue those who violate the bill's provisions passed the House floor Monday.
These centers, which are sometimes called pregnancy resource centers, are private nonprofits that promote childbirth and alternatives to abortion. They offer resources, counseling, classes and information related to pregnancy, childbearing, adoption and parenting to women, children and families. Some also provide free pregnancy tests or limited ultrasounds to confirm pregnancy.
But some groups like the Center for Reproductive Rights and American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists say the organizations can be misleading, arguing they often resemble full-service health clinics but usually do not have licensed medical staff on site or provide full reproductive health care.
ACOG said these centers have no legal obligation to provide accurate information and are not subject to HIPAA or required by law to maintain client confidentiality.
Some crisis pregnancy centers in Oklahoma are reimbursed with state dollars through the Choosing Childbirth program. This has become a key part of the state's strategy to support young children and pregnant women after the state enacted a near-total abortion ban in 2022.
House Bill 3194 by Rep. Denise Crosswhite Hader, R-Piedmont, and Sen. Julie McIntosh, R-Porter, prevents the state and any of its agencies or local officials from requiring centers to:
- Offer or perform abortions.
- Offer, provide or distribute abortion-inducing drugs or contraception.
- Refer for abortion, an abortion-inducing drug or contraception.
- Counsel in favor of abortion, abortion-inducing drugs or contraception.
- Post any advertisement, sign, flyer or similar material promoting or providing information on obtaining an abortion, abortion-inducing drugs or contraception.
They also could not do the following:
- Prohibit centers from providing information, medical testing, care, counseling, classes, resources or other services because they don't perform, refer or counsel in favor of abortion, abortion-inducing drugs or contraception,
- Prohibit centers from counseling a woman on any pregnancy-related medical care or treatment, including offerings that may counteract or reverse the effects of abortion-inducing drugs.
- Interfere with centers' staffing or hiring decisions by requiring them to interview, hire or continue to employ a person who does not affirm their mission statement or agree to comply with their pro-life ethic and operating procedure.
In an amendment, the bill stipulates that centers may refer a woman to a different clinic or hospital if she requests contraception.
A center or any party "aggrieved by any violation of this act" can take civil action. The prevailing party would be entitled to recover threefold their sustained damages. That recovery cannot be less than $10,000, along with costs of the action and reasonable attorney fees.
Similar legislation has been passed in other states, like Montana and Wyoming, with backing from the Alliance Defending Freedom.
Crosswhite Hader said following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, some states have introduced regulations or legislation to restrict centers.
"What we're trying to do is make sure that the centers stay in the lane that they are, but protect them from unwarranted lawsuits simply trying to perhaps force them into saying something about abortion that's not where they're going," Crosswhite Hader said. "That's not their wheelhouse."
Rep. Suzanne Schreiber, D-Tulsa, who practiced law for several years before her current role, said she believes this bill creates a new tort that centers can use to file lawsuits.
Rep. Andy Fugate, D-Del City, later said he couldn't identify where this bill protects centers from lawsuits and asked Crosswhite Hader which part offers that defense. She said she thinks the bill as a whole accomplishes this.
Other Democratic lawmakers expressed concern about the oversight of services, like medical testing and counseling, provided by centers. Crosswhite Hader said she doesn't believe these centers are trying to present themselves as anything beyond what they are.
"The idea is to continue to say, these are pregnancy resource centers where you can go and get information to assist you with your pregnancy," Crosswhite Hader said.
Rep. Mickey Dollens, D-Oklahoma City, countered this, sharing he sought records from the Oklahoma Life Foundation and Oklahoma Pregnancy Care Network. Both groups are grant-supervising entities that have been awarded millions of dollars in Choosing Childbirth funds to reimburse nonprofits, like crisis pregnancy centers.
Dollens said he asked for the number of full-time licensed medical professionals, clients they serve and the amount of material support provided through the groups they reimburse.
He said he received no response.
"So we actually don't know if they are doing what they signed up to do," Dollens said.
He asked if Crosswhite Hader would join him in seeking this information, and she said she would be happy to request it.
"But, I will say that where you continue to say [pregnancy centers are] unregulated, I will disagree. I believe these are regulated," Crosswhite Hader said. "They are going to continue to stay under the authority they already are, just like we asked previously about the doctors who would provide the information on an ultrasound. That doctor is already regulated, so these are not unregulated entities."
"I think that's a great example because we don't know that there's actual licensed care professionals, such as doctors, administering the ultrasounds," Dollens replied. "So I think you just raised an excellent point for why we need transparency."
The bill passed on party lines, with a vote of 79 to 18. It now moves to the Senate.
